Strengths-Powered Leaders tap into the Awesome Power of Story

We’ve known about the power of story for eons. Since humans began communicating, stories have drawn us into our shared experiences. The stories may be in pictures—consider everything from cave paintings to the wall art of Banksy. They may be musical, like Beethoven’s 6th Symphony (Pastoral) with its expression of streams, birds, a storm, and more, or Lennon & McCartney’s Eleanor Rigby, in which lyrics and music combine to evoke the stories of loneliness that abound in society.

Many stories, though, are told through words only, from the earliest creation myths to the stories of bards entertaining villagers and royalty in medieval Europe to the world’s great novels.

These are all examples of stories that guide and change our understanding of our world at the societal level. Yet stories of small things are just as powerful. A child fascinated by the story of her birth or of how his adoptive parents chose him or the stories we tell ourselves to explain our failures and successes—these stories shape our beliefs, our self-concepts, and our actions.

Outstanding leaders know—and use—the power of story. They share and involve people in the stories of what could be, the vision for the future. They tell stories of the organization’s or team’s past to help people connected to the present of what is. And they tell stories that highlight the needs for action—the story of project gone wrong or the initiative that succeeded beyond expectations, the stories of missed opportunities and of creating new ways of doing things. 

Strengths-powered leaders, in particular, can use story to highlight the power of strengths and the awesome people on the team. For example, a leader can tell the story of a current project or initiative and highlight various team member’s strengths to draw people into the story. “As the project goes into Phase 2, let’s look at Phase 1 and what we can build on now. Remember that time at the beginning when the marketing folks nearly shut our project down because they thought it went against corporate marketing guidelines, but Sarah here used her explainer strengths and was able to show how the project not only met the guidelines but actually enhanced them. Awesome save, Sarah! So, what can we draw from that? How can we use what we learn to make Phase 2 great and for future projects?”

 By telling this story, the leader:

• Acknowledges Sarah’s success
• Recognizes and highlights the value of one of Sarah’s strengths (which makes Sarah feel appreciated and valued)
• Show how Sarah used that strength
• Reinforces the power of strengths use in general
• Invites everyone to build on the story and explore factors such as the need to talk about project elements with those with an interest in the project and ensure shared understanding
• Opens up discussion about how they can each use their various strengths to enhance the project.

If the leader then encourages everyone to share their own stories of how they have already used their own strengths in the project, she will help people deepen their understanding of their strengths and how their individual strengths interrelate to reinforce the concept of strengths synergy. She can trigger exploration of what strengths they may need on the team and what unrealized strengths already exist within the team.

 Every human being responds emotionally to the power of story, especially when we are in the story. Combine that with the power of strengths and see your team grow and thrive.