SARI Stories

How do you tell your own story to potential customers or employers in a way that is truthful, humble, and powerful?  How do you tell stories about your accomplishments that really stick in people's heads?

Once upon a time, I realized there are two aspects of work: Doing the work and talking about the work. I’ve observed that many people are good at doing their work. They manage teams and get superb projects done. Not as many people are as good at talking about the work that they've done.

Watch the full conversation here, or play the embedded video below.

What is a SARI Story?

SARI is a format that helps you talk about your accomplishments in a way that is not just humble and truthful, but also powerful. You can use SARI stories in interviews and in conversations about getting promoted. This is a way to talk unabashedly about your successes.

What is a SARI Story? The letters, S-A-R-I stand for the Situation, the Action, the Result, and the Interesting Thing.

• Situation: The setup that establishes drama before anything ever happens.
• Action: The step that you took.
• Result: The outcome of the action, preferably something measurable?
• Interesting thing, which can be quirky, but can also lead to further SARI Stories. 

Two Stories, Different Impacts

Let me start with an example. Suppose we met at a cocktail party, and you asked me, "What do you do for work, Senia?"

In the past, I might have said, "I'm an executive coach, and I run a team of dozens of amazing coaches." That is probably where the conversation would have ended. If we held this up against the SARI model, all I gave you was the Action. 

Let me tell the story again as a SARI story.

"You know how organizations send people to training programs, for example to be a better communicator or give better feedback?” 

You might say, "Sure. I’ve been to one of those trainings.”

“I’ve heard from people in Learning and Development that trainings don’t stick. People are totally engaged during the training. Afterwards, they might say, ‘Ah, that was a good event,’ but when they are back at work, the learning fades.

“I run a company of executive coaches. We support big companies - including VMware, Logitech, and Sony PlayStation - that run important trainings that they want to stick. The rule of thumb used to be that after training, people lost the information either 30 minutes after it was over or 30 feet outside the door. Working with executive coaches, especially ones like ours who know the training content, people put the ideas into action. We help people apply the content they learned in the context of their jobs. 

“That sums it up: We take content. We put it into context. Our clients are just as busy, but calls with a coach help them stay on track. A worker with a coach has an accountability partner. In the first session, our coaches ask clients about their biggest burning issues. In evaluations at the end, we see a 63% improvement by their own measurement. Clients also tell us that they appreciate their company investing in their skills."

SARI Elements of That Story

So, what did I do?

I walked you through the Situation, which is that training by itself stinks. It may be great in the moment, but then it gets forgotten.

What's the Action? We provide consistent coaching to the people that took the training. Clients can talk about what's going on at work and how to use the training content in their own settings.

What’s the Result? I told you the 63% number, but I also gave you another result, that people appreciate the coaching attention.

What's the Interesting thing? I didn't add one above, but I could have said, “After receiving coaching like this, clients say things like, ‘Having a person at my shoulder like this is like having a superpower.’”

What's the difference?

Telling a full SARI story can enhance my impact and demonstrate my value to clients and senior people in my company.

Stories are catchy. If you tell a really interesting story, your listener might repeat it to someone else, spreading awareness of your services.  

Creating a SARI Story

When I work with people on their SARI Stories, this is the process I use.

I don't start with the Situation because that’s not the way people initially think. I look for the Results first. I might say, “Please tell me about a time when you've added to the profit of the organization or improved the productivity or otherwise moved the organization toward a major goal.”   

Imagine you are about to update your boss. What's the Result of something that you did in the past week? Make it one the boss cares about. What did you do, the Action, that led to that Result?

Then take a deep breath. Instead of jumping into the discussion with Action and Result, start with Situation. The Situation is like the preview of the next show on Netflix, which raises tension so that you’ll return for the next episode. When you tell the story, start with the Situation. Otherwise everything you say is boring to the listener.

The Situation is the review of what’s going on, the context. Let’s assume you want to tell a story about managing a strategic initiative that you delivered successfully to market on time. Start with the problem that caused the strategic initiative to be launched. Then maybe talk about what else had been tried. That may take less than a minute. Bring back the bad stuff. What was going on before you took the helm, and why?

This can sound like, “Things were bad, but I came in and saved the day.” Yes! You do want to say that, but it's not because you're manipulating the discussion. It's because you want to give the context that creates interest. You've been working on this project intensely. If you just say, “Here’s what happened,” you don’t convey that intensity. You might make a hard task look too easy. Mention the things you tried, the obstacles faced, and the actions you took with your team.

Review:

Start your story planning with the Result: Start thinking about how you improved profit, increased revenue, or decreased expenses, or otherwise moved the organization toward major goals. Prepare your number, like my 63% in the coaching story.

Then for each Result, characterize the Situation. The obstacle. The bad thing. The problem that was hard to solve.

Then talk about the Action you took. Use “I” language, for example: “I got the team together to do this.” Why? Not because it's all about you. But your listener needs to get a clear picture of who you were in the Situation.

Interesting Things

The I in SARI, the Interesting thing, is optional, but it can reinforce your point if your audience is still listening with interest. It can make your story even more memorable.

Here’s one of my favorite examples. I had a client who was a VP. The Situation was that his colleagues and direct reports didn’t like the way he handled conflict. He recognized that he had communication issues and not enough patience. The Actions we took together included exploring ways to calm emotional thinking in the moment. We worked on small changes. So rather than “How do I change my communication style?” we discussed, “How do I become calm?" This turned out to be by getting enough sleep, enough exercise, and meditation into his life as well as using techniques to stay calm in the heat of a discussion. The Result was that he had huge improvements in a company-wide survey. Amazing results, more than I anticipated. People commented that he is a listener, he brings people in, he's inclusive. 

So now the Interesting Thing: At the very end of our coaching, he said, "Senia, I've lost 30 pounds during our work together. I'm eating much more healthy foods. I'm meditating almost every day, and I wear my watch on the other hand."

I said, "What?"

He explained that as part of our focus on making small changes, he switched his watch to the other hand to practice changing habits.

Summary 

Creating a SARI story is a way to prepare for a meeting. You don’t really need notes because the story will stick in your mind.

If you're going to speak with a client or discuss a promotion or have a job interview, I suggest you have three SARI Stories ready that you can tell comfortably. 

I hope you have a lot of fun telling your SARI stories.

 *************************************************************************

WHO ARE WE? We are a coaching organization. Our clients include premier technology companies including VMware, Logitech, ServiceNow, Sony PlayStation, and parts of the AirForce.

WHAT? In April 2020, we started offering FREE DAILY 20-minute webinars at 11:00 AM PT with experts on working remotely during this coronavirus time.

WHY? As members of Silicon Valley Change, we have all been asking, "How can we help in this stressful time?" This series is our answer. The sessions are 20 minutes long because we know how strapped you are for time.  There are no hidden bells and whistles, and we make zero pitches about any of our services including coaching.

To participate live each week day at 11 am PT, use any of the following links:

• Facebook Live
• LinkedIn Live
• YouTube Live

Recordings can be found on the MyCoach Work Remote Strategies page.