"The universe is made up of stories, not of atoms" noted Muriel
Rukyser, a famed poet and social activist. For a dyed-in-the-wool scientist, it
may sound downright blasphemous. But there is no getting away from
the fact that there is a ring of truth in the assertion of Muriel. The lives
of human beings are full of rich stories woven neatly into the rich
tapestry of their day-to-day life. History and puranic lore stands testimony to
the fact that all our leaders, irrespective of their ideological plumage
are marvelous storytellers. Lord Krishna, is revered, worshipped
and venerated till today because of the story he chose to tell in the
famed battleground, Kurukshetra. Jesus always expressed himself
in enlightening parables. The Torah, the totality of Judaism's legal
and ethical religious text, abounds in not only a set of moral conduct
and commandments, but also in treasure trove of stories. In the
corporate terra-firma, one can see a whole shebang of A-listed CEOs who
are also fantastic storytellers. Such CEOs keep us spellbound
with stories of their fascinating journey to the top, their moments of
travails and triumphs, sine qua non of
their existence, the values they uphold and their future plans. A case
in point is the iconic chairman of Starbucks, Howard Schultz
who scarcely passes up an opportunity to harangue about his sojourn to
Milan and his unrelenting fascination for freshly brewed espresso he
found out there and brought it back with him. Attaboy! One may say in a
state of excitement. But Howard Schultz is well aware of the fact that
by narrating a story, he can connect with all the key dramatis personae beautifully—be it the customers
or employees or shareholders, etc. When a story is narrated by a
CEO, the stakeholders derive a meaning of things the company stands
for and opposed to. The story of travails the staffers at Starbucks undergo
in sourcing the beans from the far-off places of the world, the amount
of unremitting care the brewers take to make the espresso what it
is—it all becomes a romantic and interesting narrative recycled
for public consumption. The customers do bite the bait and stand in
a serpentine queue to get their hands on their share of cup of
coffee. One would have always seen the edifying spectacle of Bill Gates
expatiating on his dream to make PC available on every desktop and in
every household. But then, the instances where people like Bill Gates
and Howard Schultz use storytelling format to connect with their
target audience is few and far between. Not many CEOs are warm to the idea
of walking down the storytelling route. Rather, they tend to
embrace a strait-jacketed approach. CEOs may articulate their visions,
goals and their `big-picture' thinking by taking refuge in glitzy
PowerPoint slides and excel sheets. They have the uncanny knack to
convert presentations or meetings into a minor dirge of the
corporate neurosis. Sure, there is no getting away from the numbers,
charts, projections and figures. The CEOs use them in good measure to
bolster their case or stated positions. Long-winding presentations and
charts may appeal to the grey cells, but not strike a chord with the
people. Storytelling serves as a vehicle for the CEOs to envision for the
future and enlist the support of the people to translate the vision into
a compelling reality. A story has powerful effect of getting across
the information and in the same vein, tugs at the heartstrings. A
powerful story is exhilaratingly uplifting, ecstatically inspiring,
inexorably engaging and verily easy on ears.
|
