The Importance of Sharing Your Story: Why Leaders Need to Offer More Than Their Opinions
This article referred to below, by Genevieve Georget, originally appeared in Real Leaders.
As lifechanging world events unfold at an unprecedented speed, Genevieve Georget says, “Many business leaders are currently standing in unfamiliar territory—wanting to use their businesses as voices of change in the world and recognizing that their voice isn’t the only one within the organization.”
When it comes to telling the story of your business, the human experience is the key ingredient for a success. Georget explains how a story is an experience, a series of events that has shaped who a person is. How exactly can business leaders launch into storytelling without letting their own opinions serve as barriers to the process?
Storytelling in Business Starts with “I”
Georget suggest leaning into personal curiosity when examining one’s own story. When you understand your own story, you have more awareness and openness to understand the stories of others. Context is everything and can help shift you from opinion to experience with a little introspection.
Take No Sides
Opinions can be categorized as pro/con or for/against. They can even be categorized as right/wrong, but this classification is purely based on perspective. A Business's purpose and values are ideal cornerstones for its storytelling. But purpose and values do not necessarily give space for “right or wrong.” Georget says, “You can hold a value close to your heart without making another person ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’ for not sharing that value.”
Organizational Purpose and Values Align with Experiences in Storytelling
As a leader, can you trace your purpose and values back to your own defining experiences as a leader or as a business? This is the key to a brand's storytelling. Everything is related. As a business, your storytelling can invite your humanity into the foreground, softening the harsh lines of opinions and blending a collective and vulnerable approach to speaking up when it matters most.