Leading With Stories

 

I’ve read many times that telling a story in a presentation is a compelling way to keep your audience focused on your every word. I suppose this is true as long as the story is, in fact, interesting, with a bit of a plot – you know – that beginning, middle and ending? Elizabeth Larson is a master at this. Her presentation “I Don’t Have Time for Requirements – My Project is Late Already” (a sort of Covey “Sharpen Your Saw” story) always gets rave reviews because she tells a story throughout the presentation.

A colleague of mine is a master at telling stories. I honestly don’t know where he gets them all, but they are usually related to the situation at hand. This particular gentleman is from Denmark, and refers to himself as a Viking. So, you know already that he has a very good sense of humour. I haven’t seen him wearing one of those helmets with the horns, and I don’t think he has asked to be buried along with his ship. But then again, nothing would surprise me!

A close Chechslovakian friend of my dear brother kindly taught me how to paddle a canoe many years ago. I was having trouble, of course, being only a young teenager. Instead of telling me “Hold your paddle like this.”, he would relate a story about how he remembered a person he was teaching who held his paddle such and such a way (strangely, just as I was holding it), and how this caused the canoe to tip, or another story would be the untold damage caused when he steered the canoe into another watercraft. Do you think I would remember what he said if he hadn’t told a story?

So, my premise is that if stories work for presentations, so too do they work for leading teams from behind. You’ve been there and done that. You have the battle scars and had the experience. Why not pass along those precious lessons learned to your colleagues by using engaging stories that will not only pass the message, but be memorable and entertaining?

Should all your stories be true and factual? Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes facts get in the way of entertainment. But if they are focused and brief stories that make a good point, and sometimes even have a special twist at the end as a little hidden surprise… why not use them as a leadership tool?

Well… that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

What are your thoughts? Is storytelling in your toolbox?

I found the item below in response to Kristin Jones and Rebecca Braglio’s call for stories about why you love being a project manager. I thought I would repost this story here for your reading pleasure (I hope) to make it more visible. OK – full disclosure – I wrote it. ;)

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A Story about an Accidental Project Manager

Once upon a time, there was a young man who began his career in technology – writing computer programs, analyzing business needs, designing and implementing computer software. He worked on things called projects, as a member of a team, or sometimes as a lone ranger on a tiny project. He loved working in technology, because he could exercise his creative cleverness and amaze the town folk with technological magic.

One day, a company with whom had just started working asked if he would move 3,000 kilometers away to manage a project to create and install a computer system for court staff so they could record offences, schedule trials, record results, collect fines, and … well.. you get the picture. Never one to say no to an opportunity, this young man, who had never managed a project in his life, said, “Yes! I’d love to do it!” Some might call this attitude foolhardy. He called it good fortune - and so began his career in project management.

He and his small team worked hard to figure out client needs, design and create a system a piece at a time, confirm it with the client, and then implement it. The project was very successful, providing what was required, and maybe a little bit more (which he later learned was called “gold plating”), within the expected budget and on time.

Since then, the subject of our little story managed many projects, always successfully. Then came a time when he noticed there was a professional organization called the Project Management Institute that had a body of knowledge called the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. He realized that his past success had been a matter of common sense (not so ubiquitous he always thought for a term with such a name) and to some extent, good luck and friendly clients. He was often heard talking to himself while holding the guide close to his chest, muttering “Where have you been all my life!” [OK… not true, but added for comedic effect]

Thus began the professionalization of our friend. After managing projects for fifteen years, he immersed himself in this warm body of knowledge, researched, studied, wrote and passed the exam known as the "PMP exam". He enjoyed rubbing shoulders with other beings who also managed projects or had an interest in the same. He liked what he read and experienced so much that he decided to volunteer with the professional organization locally and globally, never looking back, even another fifteen years later. In fact, he is still volunteering today.

He has also been spreading the good PM word within his organization and far and wide. I heard about this person one day through a sort of telepathic connection. He obviously loved what he was doing. Otherwise, why would he continue? I asked him what he loved about project management, and his answer surprised me. He said, “Project management is all about people. People who are your clients, people who are your team, people who hear about the project and are want to know more, people with their own lives outside the projects, and people working to provide for their families. People. It’s all about people.” I said, “What? It’s not all about projects?” “No, he said, without people, there would be no projects. There would be no organizations. There would be no important needs being met through projects. Projects are people. Just like life – it’s all about people. And that’s why I love being a project manager. Working with people to understand what needs to be done, to bring the team together to work toward a successful conclusion in a way that makes us proud of what we have accomplished and makes the client want to work with us again.”

And so ends this brief tale of the accidental project manager. He is still out there, an accident no more. Still being successful. But now, it is not a matter of uncommon common sense or even luck. Now it is a matter of knowledge, experience, making plans, working plans and…. well… most importantly – working with people. It’s all about people!

(Originally posted on ProjectManagement.com as a reply to this item.)