On my first day at a new job at a new company years ago, a number of folks took me out to lunch, as was the tradition. My schedule up until lunch was the usual fare: going over benefits with the benefits manager, listening to welcome discussions, reviewing my agenda for the day with my team, reviewing the various products and services the firm offered, etc.
It was all quite interesting...well, not really. That is, until we hit lunch.
Before lunch, the people I met with ran through the topics they set out to cover with relative competency. Once we hit lunch, the agendas melted away, and folks started telling me stories about the firm.
There was the story about the CEO who built a whole training program in the back seat of the car on the overnight drive to the client site. And wowed the client the next day. (That's the myth, anyway.)
Then there was the story about how the CEO leased cavernous office space and said to the team, "In 2 years, we'll need more space." They looked at him with "yeah, right" eyes, but, sure enough, they were doubling up in offices not long into the future.
And then there was the story about how, on a Sunday morning, a small group of folks sat in the CEOs office and said, "Let's be bold and change the whole model of how this service works in our industry." Six months later, the competition was trying to catch up.
It's not what these stories had to say about the culture of the company that's imporant. It's that stories made the company come to life. Stories create lasting impressions where other forms of straight-up communication fail to connect as deeply.
For my part, the most effective business developers and leaders regularly capture people's attention and imagination, leading them gently towards specific actions or ways of thinking. Storytelling does not make leaders and business developers, but it can make them more impactful.
Do you have a story about the power of stories? I do. It all started when I was five...