Why is storytelling the key to successful management?

Good managers know that if employees work together to help, each one lends a hand, the job will be completed quickly and easily.

But how to assemble those "arms" in the first place? How to inspire a group of disparate individuals to work together, side by side, towards a common goal? That takes a manager who is able to influence and persuade. Storytelling gives you the opportunity to do this.

“Every leader needs a good story.” You may have heard this before, but have you really thought about why it is so?

Why is storytelling important for managers?

Explaining the importance of storytelling for leadership roles “Stories have the ability to trigger strong emotions. If you don't believe it, you can check it out yourself. The next time you watch a football game (where you're not cheering for either team), see how your opinion changes when the commentator talks about an athlete's biography. It could be the story of how they overcame an illness or the loss of a family. You'll feel carried away, have the vibe, and when you come back to the game a minute later, you'll most likely find yourself wanting that person and that team to win.

Likewise, when you tell a relevant story, you get the attention of your employees. Without a story, information becomes dry, but with a story, information becomes more emotional. This will impact their behavior as emotions play a huge role in decision making.”

Sharing the same opinion, Sales Director added: "Besides evoking emotions, stories are also very memorable. What will you remember better: a list of facts or a compelling story; a bunch of statistics or an interesting story with the same gist?

We've all sat through hour-long presentations or meetings, and if a story is told, it's likely to be the only thing we remember.

That's not to say that stories are more important than data. What I mean is that we need to give the listener both. Because when embedded in stories, data is 22 times more likely to be remembered.

Furthermore, stories have the ability to make complexity simple. This is useful when you want to teach an employee something important. Telling a story full of metaphors that can help accountants, sales, marketing or warehouse workers better understand the problem is too convenient."

As you can see, storytelling has the power to engage, inspire, clearly illustrate, enhance communication, connect emotionally, even persuade… – all abilities that managers need. must have. However, the stories used need to be good stories that meet certain criteria.

“Effective management is characterized by effective communication. People with storytelling skills are effective communicators. Therefore, a manager who is skilled at storytelling will, most likely, also be an effective manager.”

The standard of a good story

According to a psychological speaker, in order for the stories to have the desired effect, there should be 3 criteria.

First, the story must be true, otherwise trust between management and employees will not be rekindled. Half-truths aren't good enough, and sublime stories aren't.

Second, to inspire action, stories must have a positive tone, i.e. stories with happy endings. Only stories with a happy ending create a feeling of happiness, joy and encourage employees to act accordingly. Surely you do not want to teach your employees badly, right?

Plus, stories need to be short and straight to the point. Why? Because, employees both listen to you and think in their heads. So the story has to be kept simple so that they focus on what is being told and their thoughts don't follow the clouds that wander out there."

Tips for being an engaging storyteller

It's okay to have a good story, we also need a bit of "charm" for the stories to maximize their strength. Talking about storytelling skills to gradually become a good storyteller “If you don't mind, sharing your story is the fastest way to attract listeners. Sharing the failures and difficulties you overcame and how you managed to achieve ultimate success creates a lot more bonding and mutual trust between you and your employees. A story should only have 1-2 "twists", if more than that, listeners will be confused about where and where your story is "no matter how sweet it is, it will melt into clouds". There will be nothing left in their minds, maybe just a tangled mess.

Storytelling – once a childhood bedtime “ritual” – has developed and is quickly becoming an essential management skill in the adult world. We humans think through metaphors and learn through stories. So the next time you're about to communicate with an employee, partner, or client, remember to use the power of storytelling. That starts with recording the most memorable things that happen to you from today.