IV. On the Power of Telling Stories

I started my work with the old traditional sales, being in the room, knocking on doors and calling people out of printed lists handed to me.

Today I still laugh at to just how inefficient it all seems to me now. Although the one thing that has stayed with me is the power of telling a story.

Telling stories might be one of the first things we've done as a species, there is a very deepful feeling while you hear them and tell them. Since the days we used to engage in this around a bondfire to this age, in which we can see, hear and read them out of our phones. Telling something that connects and resonates with people has been and will always be a corner stone of what makes us human.

When I made the change from traditional sales to a digital-based role the first thing I was asked to do, being the most important part of the selection process, was to write a short story about one of the products of the company. It all seemed like such an odd requirement at the time until I sat down and began writing, then it all made sense to me. We tell stories everyday, even if we realise it or not.

They not only helps us show who we are to someone, but they also helps us understand who they are. What you've gone through is likely not unique to you alone and I believe there's something beautiful about having these shared experiences with people.

Nowadays in both of my jobs I get reminded of just how important is to not only tell stories but more importantly to listen to them. Remember, you get to know someone really quickly seeing, listening and reading how they react to something, how they had solved something and how they've persevered through difficult times. You must remember that behind every name there's someone who has experienced life too, probably with a different lense that yours.

Someone who's dealt with problems and turned them into opportunities, someone who wants to achieve a goal, might be an specific one or a couple of them. You need to hear their story to find out all of this.

But before that you must tell them a story, your story. Don't be afraid to open up because amazing things happen when you do. Amazing things happen when you find someone who's looking for the same thing that you are, for there's a real strength in numbers.

But there's a far deeper strength in having the same direction. Show them where you want to go so they can show you where they're going.