Storytelling and Change Management
Great leaders are great storytellers. Leaders have an uncanny ability to inspire us and paint the picture of our destination before we’ve even started our journey.
I reflected on this recently as I had set myself a challenge to take a picture of a mini waterfall slowly freezing over every week. I did this for two reasons: 1. It’s on the route of my ‘long run’ which I don’t always want to take, acting as an accountability measure. 2. I thought it would be interesting to tell the ‘change story’ of transformation over time.
Only one problem - this week was warm! I showed up huffing and puffing to take my picture and all I found was water. This led to an Aha! moment (admittedly at the time I called it a ‘duh’ moment).
During change initiatives frontline experience won’t always reflect the story being told, AND THAT’S OK TOO!
During these moments we have an opportunity to debrief and reflect on the many learnings available:
1. We need to appreciate how unanticipated external environmental factors are impacting our efforts (in this case Climate Change!).
2. Reflect on what’s gone well. I’ve become a much better runner since I began to push myself to take this photo.
3. Don’t become discouraged. Change takes time and may come with setbacks, but that makes it more worthy of the effort, not less. Have faith in your story - I know my mini waterfall will freeze again and I’ll stay committed to my weekly pilgrimage.
4. Depending on the situation, the stories we tell may have to change, and that’s ok too! So long as we show up curious, squeezing out every last bit of learning, show up with authenticity and commitment to ensure our teams feel seen and heard, a new story may be needed to lead us to a better destination.
The worst things we can do is hide from our teams during unexpected moments along the change journey, or otherwise ignore or dismiss their experiences. Instead, these events are opportunities to have the team become partners of the story crafting process. It makes the picture of our destination twice as beautiful and all the more achievable.
What’s your story?
