How can storytelling help leaders develop self-awareness?

Storytelling is like unlocking a door to your true self. It's this magical way of letting your personality, beliefs, and values shine without getting lost in the sea of jargon, data, or clichés. When you share stories about who you are, what you care about, and why you do what you do, it's like handing out pieces of your authentic self on a silver platter.

Story-Telling was not something of my forte and i did not begin story telling just because i saw people around me doing the same. I felt by story telling, we not only help others know our side of reflection about things but also build our own perspectives stronger. This has happened to me so many times that i wrote something and then deleted it and finally did not post, just because not every moment i feel that my content of story is not worthy enough. So revealing the exact picture about yourself is vital.

Storytelling can have a profound impact on self-awareness. When we engage in storytelling, whether through writing, sharing personal experiences, or creating narratives, it prompts us to reflect on our own thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Through the process of crafting stories, we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, our values, beliefs, and motivations.

You need to control and connect with your emotions. Not everytime you can be positive or or everytime you have to be negative about something. It is ok to not have an extreme point of view about few things. As i heard in a movie sometime, "It is not worth to always choose a difficult path, instead sometimes an easy path is decent enough for you to pursue."

In my experience, searching for feedback on your storytelling skills is the best and the fastest way to grow. 1) it will save you a lot of time figuring things out on your own, 2) it allows you to connect with peers and audiences in a conversational and “safe” offstage manner, 3) it keeps you objective on how good you are, keeps you humble.

Another valuable perspective to consider when aiming to improve your presentation skills is seeking feedback from your audience directly. After delivering a presentation, encourage participants to provide feedback through surveys, questionnaires, or open discussions. Consider engaging in post-presentation discussions with a small group of audience members to delve deeper into their perspectives. This personalized interaction can provide nuanced insights that may not be captured in a broader survey. Constructive criticism and diverse opinions can be instrumental in refining your skills and ensuring that future presentations are even more effective and engaging.

I always ask for feedback, as gaining a third party perspective gives you a very natural and honest opinion about things and is completely non biased.

Storytelling serves as a powerful tool for self-reflection, introspection, and self-expression. It allows us to delve into our experiences, emotions, and perspectives, ultimately leading to increased self-awareness and personal growth.

Storytelling develops communication skillsets to help leaders build a strong culture. Effective communication leads to motivation and successful production. Storytelling can be used to clarify a bigger goal and break it down the conceptual complexities. Personal storytelling can be added to a conversation to aid in bonding by a leader becoming more vulnerable and transparent. It can be used as a catalyst in your team getting to know you better. Storytelling invites more storytelling from others, increasing the feeling of belonging by realizing commonalities and embracing, (sometimes with mutual laughter), the stark differences.