VALUES-BASED LEADERSHIP PART I: STORYTELLING
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Part one of a two-part piece on Values-Based Leadership. Next InterMission: How do you align your personal values with your company’s values? And how do you communicate that connection to your people?
Recently there has been much literature and discussion around we as individuals living our personal values (see practically any episode of Oprah) and about values-based Leadership (see Warren Bennis or Bill George on authentic leadership), but how do we identify our personal values and then communicate them to our people while connecting with their hearts and minds?
The answer to both questions is the same: storytelling. In fact, remembering what Noel Tichy calls the “teachable moments” of your past and then sharing them with others is essential to values-based leadership.
A 5-point plan to crafting a values-based story:
- Find the story. Our pasts are like my attic: messy and full of old books. If I flip on the light, clear the cobwebs, and start leafing through those books, I re-discover my old stories. If you find a quiet place and close your eyes, the first story that comes to you is most likely the right one.
- Give us the sensory details. Tell us about the corner office with the view of the Hudson River that you had to give up; describe the noise of the trade floor; tell us how your boss’ Cartier watch swung around his wrist as he yelled at you.
- Don’t forget the (emotional) juice. Maybe there was a moment of uncertainty, fear, or just a tunnel-vision focus on right vs. wrong. Communicate that. Don’t gloss over it. This is where you connect with people’s hearts.
- Act like a professional storyteller. Imagine you are telling the story to a bunch of children (your audience won’t know): keep them in suspense, use foreshadowing, show through facial expression how you felt.
- Name the value: Tell us what value was forged or violated as a result of this life event. Here are some examples of powerful values-based stories I’ve heard in the classroom:
-An Executive Education participant whose first day at a top-drawer financial firm started with him being ordered to fire the manager he was replacing (Integrity).
-A leader’s story of his first experience with racism on the playground – another boy was being taunted – and how he stood up for the boy even though it turned the other boys against him. Years later he found himself defending the hard work of his team to leadership (Mutual Respect).
-An SVP’s story of his days as a young consultant – he made an egregious mistake on a client proposal and his boss, instead of firing him, said “I guess you’ll never forget this day and you’ll never make such a careless mistake again.” And he didn’t. (Trust and Mentoring).
Do you have a great values-based story? Have you been moved by someone else’s?
Tags: facilitator advice,kate nugent,storytelling,values-based leadership
