Over the past
couple of weeks we’ve covered the importance of leadership and vision in
strategic communication and emerging media.
These are the quintessential foundations for strong and effective strategic
communication plans. However if the
vision isn’t translated into effective messaging and placed appropriately for
the intended audience a grand vision can easily go unseen and unheard. That
to me is a sad, sad predicament. So how
does one translate vision into strategic messaging and place such a message in
the most advantageous communication avenues?
How can a vision be shared with others in a way that will strike a chord
internally that motivates and encourages the necessary actions to bring that
vision into fruition? Tell them a story. Translate that vision into effective narrative
messaging. Howard Gardner, an American
developmental psychologist, who is well-known for his theory of multiple
intelligences said, “Stories are the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s
arsenal.”
I happen to agree, I think truly visionary
leaders are more often than not extremely skilled storytellers. They are able
to share their vision through story, and humans love a good story. In fact, there
is scientific data to support this claim.
Paul Zak, in Harvard Business Review, wrote, "Why Your Brain Loves
Good Storytelling" (2014). In it he stated, “many business people have
already discovered the power of storytelling in a practical sense – they have
observed how compelling a well-constructed narrative can be. But recent
scientific work is putting a much finer point on just how stories change our
attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.”
Years ago Zak’s lab
discovered that when the neurochemical oxytocin was produced it, among other
things, motivated cooperation with others. He explained that, “it does this by
enhancing the sense of empathy, our ability to experience others’ emotions.
Empathy is important for social creatures because it allows us to understand
how others are likely to react to a situation, including those with whom we
work.” More recently, Zak’s lab wondered
if they could “hack” the oxytocin system to motivate people to engage in
cooperative behaviors. To do this, they tested if narratives could cause the
brain to make oxytocin. “By taking blood draws before and after the narrative,
we found that character-driven stories do consistently cause oxytocin
synthesis. Further, the amount of oxytocin released by the brain predicted how
much people were willing to help others; for example, donating money to a
charity associated with the narrative.”
Subsequent
studies have deepened their understanding of why stories motivate voluntary cooperation.
(This research was given a boost when, through funding from the U.S. Department
of Defense, they developed ways to measure oxytocin release noninvasively.) Zak’s
research team discovered that, “in order to motivate a desire to help others, a
story must first sustain attention – a scarce resource in the brain – by
developing tension during the narrative. If the story is able to create that
tension then it is likely that attentive viewers/listeners will come to share
the emotions of the characters in it, and after it ends, likely to continue
mimicking the feelings and behaviors of those characters. This explains the
feeling of dominance you have after James Bond saves the world, and your
motivation to work out after watching the Spartans fight in 300.”
This research also
covered the vision and organizational story.
Zak added, “Finally, don’t forget that your organization has its own
story – the founding myth. What passion
led the founder(s) to risk health and wealth to start the enterprise? Why was
it so important, and what barriers had to be overcome? These are the stories
that, repeated over and over, stay core to the organization’s DNA. They provide
guidance for daily decision-making as well as the motivation that comes with
the conviction that the organization’s work must go on, and needs everyone’s
full engagement to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Support through
scientific-data not enough to sell you on storytelling as an effective
messaging format for vision? Here are a
few other reasons why telling your audience a story is a great way to translate
vision into a message that motivates:
1) Storytelling is as old as the hills and as
hot as your latest iPhone app. Storytelling has been around for thousands of years
because it’s a sophisticated, high-level form of communication. Stories engross
people—just like a great movie or book.
2) Stories you help connect with people,
logically and emotionally. In an Age of Distraction where people’s attention gravitates to their BlackBerrys and iPads, stories give people a reason to keep
listening to your message.
3) Stories help people remember your important point. As a vision, “we need to grow by 15 percent” is an abstract statement. It’s not going to inspire people beyond your board or C-suite. But a story sticks, and a great story is something that people will share, spreading your vision (Weighhart, 2016).
3) Stories help people remember your important point. As a vision, “we need to grow by 15 percent” is an abstract statement. It’s not going to inspire people beyond your board or C-suite. But a story sticks, and a great story is something that people will share, spreading your vision (Weighhart, 2016).
The author of Leading Change, John Kotter shared that
“over the years I have become convinced that we learn best–and change–from
hearing stories that strike a chord within us…Those in leadership positions who
fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and
for themselves.”
In “Converting
Vision and Strategy into Action: Three
Strategies for Turning Words into Results,” (2016) author Weighart focused on
clear guidance for using storytelling to translate a vision into motivational
content to promote the action of others.
“More than anything, though, stories are an opportunity to capture,
bottle, and share the steps people are taking to drive growth for your
organization. Your vision and strategy
may be compelling…but they’re abstract concepts. When you share a story, you’re telling people
what you really mean when you’re talking about the culture you want to
create.” In this piece, Weighart goes on
to add that, “in short, storytelling is not a nice to-do activity; it’s a
must-do essential for leaders looking to make great things happen.”
He goes on to clearly
illustrate these steps in the “Bates Story Structure” – Weighart claims that
using this story-structure tool can take any powerful experience – personal or
professional – and turn it in to a three-minute, six-part story that will
resonate with your audience. Here is the
“Bates Story Structure” tool illustration followed by a step-by-step breakdown:
1) The Setup: The who, what, when, and where of the
story.
2) The Buildup: A problem, conflict, challenge, or obstacle faced.
2) The Buildup: A problem, conflict, challenge, or obstacle faced.
3) The Scene: A “moment of truth” or specific point
in time when you walk the audience through exactly what happened.
4) The Resolution: How did that conflict or problem
turn out? What was the outcome?
5) The Lesson: What did you learn or take away from
this experience?
6) The Audience Theme: How does that lesson connect
to an important point that you want to make to the specific audience that is listening
to or reading your story now?
Try it, take your
own vision statement (if you don’t yet have one I encourage you to find it) and
follow these steps to turn that vision into a story. I’m working on mine now. I’ll be sharing it in the coming week’s bonus
share. The total takeaway from this week’s
blog is simple, turn vision into a story and share it with others. In the words of, Dr. Pamela Rutledge,
Director of the Media Psychology Research Center, “stories are how we think.
They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemas, scripts, cognitive
maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how
things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we
persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our
identities, and define and teach social values. ”
Works Cited:
Weighart, S. (2016). “Converting Vision and Strategy into
Action: Three Strategies for Turning Words into Results.” Retrieved on 22
November 2016 from www.bates-communication/
Zak, P. (2014). “Why
Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling.” Retrieved on 21 November 2016 from https://hbr.org/2014/10/why-your-brain-loves-good-storytelling