(Published in Business Day on – 3 September 2024)
Once upon a time a bright young person launched into a career full of promise and maybe some foreboding. . . .
Nothing captures the human imagination quite like a story. In his book The Storytelling Animal Jonathan Gottschall suggests it is stories that make us human. “We are, as a species, addicted to story”.
We read stories and have them read to us; we listen to podcast stories; we go to movies and watch hours of television to catch more stories. Commentators entice us to watch sport by building on the personal interest stories of the competitors.
One of my best memories of teaching on the MBA was introducing the classes to each other’s versions of South African history. Needless to say, the versions differed hugely. We came to realise that what influences us now is not so much the facts of what happened in the past, which are in any case difficult to establish. What influences us are the stories we tell now about the past that make sense of the present and direct our efforts to create the future.
The storyteller influences us by creating a reality in our minds. Leaders make use of this all the time. Business schools teach courses on storytelling as a valuable leadership skill. Stories of past heroes or villains are always fun at staff gatherings, and they convey meaning and values in a way that bald mission statements cannot.
CEOs who are not raconteurs themselves do well to give the floor to story tellers, as kings once had minstrels sing the ballads of their heroes, creating a sense of identity and inviting the next generation to continue in the glorious tradition.
Owen Eastwood is a New Zealander who has drawn on his mixed Maori and British ancestry to advise companies and sports teams how to build winning teams. One of the many stories in his book, Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness, describes how coach Vern Cotter helped the French rugby team Clermont Auvergne overcome their inability to win a final. For three years they dominated the preceding matches, only to lose in the final.
He traced it back to 50BC when the local chieftain, Vercingetorix, led a successful revolt against Rome. He was eventually defeated by Julius Caesar despite an heroic last stand, and as a result became a powerful folk hero representing courage and strength even as a loser.
Frankly, I’m as skeptical as you probably are that this glorious and heroic defeat created the losing mindset of a rugby team two thousand years later; but the point is that Cotter used the story to turn around the players’ psychology. He told a new story and created rituals such as each player sharpening a replica of Vercingetorix’s sword after training sessions. With this growth mindset, they went on to win the title at their next attempt.
Each month when I meet our new recruits, I tell the story of how the company came into existence and what values inspired us. I’m resolved now to make more of this story-telling opportunity and imbue our history with the flavour of “Once upon a time . . ,“ while inviting the next generation to write the new chapter.
Returning to our opening paragraph, how does your own story continue? What do you choose to write as the next compelling episode in your career? It’s never too late to change the plot, or add a new story when you retire. If you lead an organisation, what is its story? And what do you choose to be its next chapter?
Can today’s tasks become an adventure story rather than just a succession of logical decisions and routine activities? Can you imbue work with mythological power for yourself and your followers?
Jonathan Cook chairs Thornhill Associates