Why Storytelling Matters at Work

This is part of?LinkedIn's new Newsletter Series. To get weekly exclusive CEO interviews, and insights on leadership, the future of work, and employee experience?hit the "subscribe" button here.

I was never a good student, but I was excited to enter the corporate world. I worked hard to make that happen and double majored in college and graduated with honors.?

In my first job out of college, I was promised the chance to travel, meet with entrepreneurs and executives, and have an immediate impact. The opportunity was too good to pass up, even with a three-hour daily commute.

But the job turned out to be data entry and cold calling. One day, the CEO came out of his office and said he had an important task for me. I thought it was my chance to do something worthwhile until he handed me some cash and told me to go get him coffee.

After that day, I vowed to someday work for myself. It started my passion for the future of work.

People often ask how I got involved in writing and talking about the future of work.

I could share statistics, or I could share that story. Which do you think is more effective?

---------------------------

Now more than ever we need to take a step back to define what it means to be a leader and what great leadership looks like. But this isn’t easy to do. In fact, many business leaders struggle with this. You cannot become and build what you don't define. In the PDF you will get a framework you can follow and also see how some of the world’s top CEOs define leadership.?Click here to get the PDF.

Great communicators are all great storytellers. As humans, we naturally want to hear stories and connect with them more. It’s why kids love bedtime stories and why stories are crucial at work.

Research has found that stories get people to act and are more memorable than statistics. One study distributed two pamphlets for an organization that helps children—one with facts and data and the other with stories. People who received the pamphlet with stories donated almost twice as much as the people who only had facts and data.

Some of the most successful brands in the world like Airbnb and Nike don’t just list properties or shoes—they share stories to connect customers with their products, brand, and purpose.

Great leaders like Bill Gates and Elon Musk built their companies by telling stories to investors, customers, and employees to help them see the vision and the mission of their organizations. Their method is much more effective than just sharing numbers and facts.?

For building connections, sharing vision, and getting people engaged and inspired, storytelling matters at work.

I put together a video which talks about this in more detail. Please check it out below and if you want more content like this?you can subscribe to my Youtube channel.

---------------------------

This podcast episode is sponsored by?Perceptyx.

Perceptyx helps enterprises get a clear picture of their employee experience with a continuous listening and people analytics platform aligned to key business goals. With the industry’s largest portfolio of survey types –?including engagement, DE&I, lifecycle, 360 feedback, pulse, and more – now you can see not only what’s going on today, but how to move forward tomorrow with insights and prescriptive actions for every level of the organization.?

Given our unique blend of technology, domain expertise, and ‘above and beyond’ customer service, only Perceptyx makes all this possible. It’s why 30% of the Fortune 100 already rely on Perceptyx and why 95% of the organizations stay with us year after year. Learn more or request a personal demo today at?www.perceptyx.com.