Thursday's Leadership Insight: What is Your Leadership Story Part II Using The Basics of Story and a Framework for a Powerful Leadership Story.

"An authentic, well-crafted leadership story is a powerful narrative ?for leaders to connect with, engage with, and encourage learning for themselves and those they lead and impact their organizations."

Well-crafted stories are powerful for the teller to understand themselves and create connection, engagement, and learning. A well-crafted story is crucial in today's multi-generational, diverse, and increasingly disengaged workforce. "An authentic, well-crafted leadership story is a powerful narrative to connect with, engage, and encourage learning for themselves and those they lead and impact their organizations. In leadership, storytelling is a powerful tool that can inspire, motivate, and connect people to a shared vision. A well-crafted leadership story not only showcases your journey but also resonates with your audience, creating a lasting impact. The first article of this three-part series on What is Your Story, the power of a leader having a well-crafted leadership story, the power of stories, and the benefits for leaders to develop a well-crafted compelling leadership story were shared.?A well-crafted leadership story typically includes elements such as personal experiences, challenges overcome, and lessons learned that demonstrate a leader's character, competence, and commitment. While exact statistics on how many leaders have a well-crafted story are not available, research suggests that compelling storytelling itself is a critical skill for 21st-century leaders. However, many leaders may struggle to develop compelling narratives. A Leader who does not craft and share their leadership story is missing an opportunity to grow personally and connect with their team and organization at all times, especially in uncertain times; stories are critical for organizations. This Thursday's Leadership Insight will consider what inhibits leaders from intentionally developing a well-crafted leadership story and provide a framework for a leader to create a well-crafted leadership story incorporating the basic parts of the story within the framework of the three C's of leadership practice.

Tim Tobin, in?"Your Leadership Story: Use Your Story to Energize, Inspire, and Motivate,"? describes your leadership story as the collection of events, perspectives, and behaviors that represent who you are as a leader. It evolves from your unique experiences. Your leadership story is not like that of the person in another organization. Your leadership story communicates the message of your identity: who you are as a leader, what you believe in, what drives you and defines you as a leader, and how you act. An authentic leadership story is a leader's personal reflection on their leadership development. The story is a powerful leadership tool. Howard Gardner, the author of Multiple Intelligences, often said, "Stories are the single most powerful tool in a leader's toolkit."

Several factors can prevent leaders from crafting compelling leadership stories:

1.?? Time constraints: Leaders often face busy schedules, making it challenging to dedicate time to developing their narratives.

2.?? Self-doubt: Some leaders may feel uncertain about sharing personal stories or experiences.

3. Fear of vulnerability: Sharing personal experiences and challenges may make some leaders feel exposed or uncomfortable.

4. Difficulty finding the right story: It can be challenging to identify relevant, impactful stories that align with organizational goals.

5. Lack of storytelling skills: Not all leaders are naturally gifted storytellers, and developing this skill requires practice and guidance.

?Reasons 1-4 ?sound similar to those I hear in my leadership consulting practice from tired leaders who will choose not to slow down and to use a daily practice of reflection. Reflection is foundational to leadership and provides a starting point for developing a leadership practice story. The leader citing reason five may not have the skill. A well-crafted and shared story can seem like magic, yet it is hard work, practiced, rehearsed, and refined skill. The first step is to remember that story crafting and sharing are skills that can be learned and improved. The first step is to go back to the basics. The basics are the three key elements of a story.

Structuring ?a ?leadership story – The basics of stories that are compelling

A compelling story story consists of three key elements that work together to engage, inspire, and motivate audiences. Here are the essential components:

Three key elements

1. Characters

Every powerful story needs relatable characters that the audience can connect with emotionally. The leader often serves as the protagonist, but it's essential to highlight supporting characters or catalysts who have influenced the journey.

2. Conflict or Challenge

At the heart of any engaging story lies a conflict or challenge that must be overcome. In leadership stories, this often represents A significant obstacle the leader faced, a setback, adversity, or a difficult decision or choice.

3. Resolution

The resolution demonstrates how a challenge was overcome and what was learned and applied from the experience. This part of the story should reinforce the key message or lesson the leader wants to convey

.By incorporating these three elements, leaders can craft compelling stories that not only engage their audience but also inspire action to reinforce learning.

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The next step in demystifying the story-crafting process of a leadership story may be the hardest. That step for the leader is to clarify what leadership is. The myths of leadership abound and have been well enumerated by leadership experts? James Kouszes and Barry Posner in The ?Leadership Challenge. The mythology of what leadership is or should be can be confusing when crafting a leadership story. What is needed is not a new theory of leadership but a practical and helpful framework for leadership practice and equipping and development development. This framework will conceptualize how leaders develop an intentional inside-outside journey As described by Maor, Werner Kass, Strovink, and Srinivasan in the Journey of Leadership. This framework will serve as a guide to incorporate the elements and components of the story and create a well-crafted leadership story. This framework will help the author fill in the elements of the story into their personal leadership story about the experiences, successes, learnings, and people who have been affected. This framework can also help a leader understand their development and show intentional paths for improvement and building other leaders. This framework will structure a leadership story in a personal way and help make sense of the story's evolution and direction.

The three C's framework of leadership practice are

"One's leadership practice and journey is guided by the leadership core their true north, using appropriate content skills to address the Context of the time

Core

A leader's core is their foundation and is made up of four critical elements: values, purpose, motivation, and leadership mindset.

Values

A leader must have 100 percent clarity and conviction of what they value. As John C. Maxwell said, The respect that leadership must have requires that one's ethics be without question. A leader not only stays above the line between right and wrong, he stays well clear of the 'gray areas.'"

Purpose

A leader must know what their purpose is as a leader. Leadership expert? Michael Hyatt notes that "once you know our why, you know our way. " Simon Sinek's Find Your Why outlines a simple yet challenging process and effective method to develop a why statement. A side benefit of using the process described by Sinek is that it will help a leader craft their leadership story.

Motivation

In the Motive, Patrick Lencioni asks a compelling or connecting question: What is your motive for leading? He expands his consideration of whether you are a rewards- or responsibility-based leader.

Mindset

Mindset, as described by Carol Dweck in her book Mindset, is how you see yourself and the world around you. Do you see the glass as ? full or empty? Do you have a closed mindset or an open mindset? A leader's mindset will affect how they see themselves and others and their circumstances.

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"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."

Thomas Jefferson

These four elements are the building blocks of a leader's core. They are the nonnegotiables and often the determiners of effective leadership and horrible leadership. Understanding one's values, purpose, motivation, and mindset guides the crafting of a leader's story, as displayed in the other two C's

Content skills of leadership

The content of one's leadership practice refers to the skills leaders develop to enhance their leadership practice. The core principles of leadership guide these as they are the skills a leader uses to serve best and lead. These content skills will always have the core principle-driven guides of values, purpose, motivation, and mindset, but they must change to be practical in the context of one's leadership practice. These skill sets will be based on the leader's values and the demands and conditions of the Context in which a leader is developing and practicing. As an example. The top five leadership skills needed for 2025, as cited by Gallup polls and Developmental Dimensions International, McKinsey, and KornFerry, are ;

1.?? Adaptability and Resilience

2.?? Building Relationships and Emotional Intelligence

3.?? Developing People and Talent

4.?? Leading Change and Innovation

5.?? ?Strategic Thinking and Critical Thinking Context of the Time Leadership

The top five leadership skills of 2020 were

1. problem-solving,

2. social judgment

3. knowledge,

4. cognitive skills,

5. knowledge of business systems

This is a much different list than the five skills demanded of leaders in 2025's complex world.

The Context of the Time

The context or time of one's leadership journey is guided by the leadership core, True North, using content skills to address the context of the time. Times will change, and change will always demand new skills. Those skills will be what the US Army coined "hard skills "or soft skills "in the 1960s. Either way, content skills will change to address the context of the time. Remember, Lincoln used handwritten proclamations to communicate. Franklin Roosevelt used the radio for Fireside chats. Obama watched the Osama Bin Laden raid in real time and conducted a press conference with the world immediately after when our troops were safe.

The skills of a leader must continually adapt to the Context of the time. The challenge for leaders today, as in all times, is having a strong foundation, a leadership core.

A leader using three elements of story and the three C's framework has a guide to craft their leadership story and even specific stories for specific situations; a leadership story should reflect these three elements of the story and the framework of the three C's will demonstrate how your leadership serves all. Your leadership story is a powerful asset that can significantly enhance your leadership practice and positively impact those you serve. By thoughtfully crafting and sharing your narrative, you can create deeper connections, inspire action, and drive meaningful change within your organization.

The leadership question for you? is;

1. Will you choose to start to craft your leadership story based on the basics of the three elements of a story and the Three C's Framework?

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.Next week's newsletter article will ask How a leader develops and shares their story ?