Leaders are Good Storytellers - Where to Find Stories

This is an interesting article by Dr. Maynard Brusman:

"I recently spoke with the VP of Human Resources of a Silicon Valley company regarding providing executive coaching for the company CEO. She asked some very poerful questions to determine fit. She specifically wanted to know how I worked with different personality styles, and my methods for initiating behavioral change. 

The VP of HR and I spoke about my approach to coaching, and my belief that possessing a psychological understanding of human behavior and business acumen are important competencies for coaching executives. We also spoke of the need for her organization to create a culture where innovation flourishes. 

The VP of HR is interested in partnering with me in helping the CEO to develop her executive presence and become a more inspiring storyteller. We further discussed how company executives can benefit by working with a seasoned executive coach. 

Where to Find Stories 

Potential stories are everywhere, but you may not notice them until you practice storytelling for a while. It's fine to start with borrowed stories from other speakers, books and the Internet, but be sure to credit them appropriately. 

You can reap an endless supply of great stories by paying attention to the anecdotes other share. Start a story notebook or computer file so you can access them for the appropriate occasion. 

Anything that captures your attention can be turned into a story. Often, life's little details contain big lessons, so begin to develop your sense of "story radar." After an interesting conversation or encounter, ask yourself if you can use the incident to illustrate a leadership principle. 

As with anything, you sharpen your skills through practice. Make a commitment to yourself to start practicing this week. Pick three stories to tell, and play with the details to figure out how to accentuate key points. 

Alternatively, pick a challenge or lesson you want to teach through story. Then, match the story to the objective. 

Leadership Challenges 

Make a list of your most important leadership issues, such as: 

1. Envisioning the future 

2. Strategic purpose and goals 

3. Team alignment 

4. Values and corporate culture 

5. Customer service and focus 

How you can teach leadership principles through stories of real people in your particular industry? 

Look for stories about people who implement their core values in day-to-day tasks. Values tend to be vague until you integrate them into stories about actual experiences. 

Encourage people to view a situation through their own lens, but in a new way. This will help them make progress in implementing organizational goals. 

Are you working in a company where executive coaches provide leadership development to grow emotionally intelligent leaders? Does your organization provide strength-based executive coaching for leaders? Sustainable leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more compelling future. 

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is "How do I find great stories?" Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching as part of their leadership development programs. 

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders develop their executive presence and become better storytellers. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company. "

Pygmalion Leadership

Pygmalion Leadership: The Power of Positive Expectations
The Pygmalion effect has been documented to improve employee performance.
Published on April 18, 2009 by Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. in Cutting-Edge Leadership

As a leader, simply holding positive expectations about team members' performance can actually lead to better team performance. Research has clearly shown the power of holding positive expectations of others. We get the outcomes that we expect. This is what is known as the "self-fulfilling prophecy," or the "Pygmalion effect" - named after George Bernard Shaw's play in which Professor Henry Higgins transforms a common flower seller, Eliza Doolittle, into a lady because he believed that it would happen (you likely are more familiar with the musical version, "My Fair Lady").
The power of the Pygmalion effect, first captured by psychologist Robert Rosenthal in his study of elementary school children, has been well documented as a simple and effective way to boost performance - in the classroom, in the workplace, in the military, and elsewhere.
In his famous study of elementary school students, Rosenthal led teachers to believe that certain pupils in their classrooms had been identified as "intellectual bloomers" - children who would show an intellectual growth spurt during the school year. In actuality, the students were randomly given the designation of intellectual bloomers, but at the end of the term, these students did indeed show higher academic achievement. Why? Because the teachers believed in them. How? Later studies showed that teachers unconsciously gave more positive attention, feedback, and learning opportunities to these students. In short, teachers were able to "nonverbally" communicate their positive expectations for academic success to these students.
What are the implications for leading work groups? Tel Aviv University professor, Dov Eden, has demonstrated the Pygmalion effect in all sorts of work groups, across all sectors and industries. If supervisors or managers hold positive expectations about the performance of those they lead, for instance believing that they can solve a challenging problem, performance improves. On the other hand, if the leader holds negative expectations - expectations that the group will fail - it leads to performance declines (the dreaded Golem effect).
As Dov Eden says, "it sounds so simple; it seems too good to be true." A recent meta-analysis (a statistical analysis that combines the results of studies) found that Pygmalion leadership training was the most effective leadership development intervention.
The bottom line is this: Leaders, believe in your team. Hold positive and high expectations that they will solve that difficult problem, meet the seemingly insurmountable challenge, and more often than not, they will meet or exceed your expectations.

Source:http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/200904/pygmalion-leadership-the-power-positive-expectations

Leadership style of Swami Vivekandanda

Swami Vivekananda, the leader

This incident took place in 1895. The place was London. Swami Vivekananda was to give a public lecture and he had come to London with Swami Saradananda. When it was time to stand up and speak, Swami Vivekananda suddenly announced that Swami Saradananda would deliver the speech instead of him. Though taken by surprise, Saradananda did an excellent job that day, and thereafter too. Swami Vivekananda had realized that all Saradananda needed was a little push to bolster his self-confidence. This incident in isolation may not say much, but we need to see it from the perspective of the leadership and management style of Swami Vivekananda.

Swamiji was not only an inspirational leader, but was also a very pragmatic one. He not only believed in ‘Servant-based Leadership’ but constantly endeavored to empower all those around him. In dealing with his brother-disciples and followers, he evoked what is today popularly known in the management world as the ‘Pygmalion Effect’. Management expert J. Sterling Livingston describes it as the effect of enabling subordinates to excel in response to the leader’s expectation of them. Swami Vivekananda had a high expectation of his followers and he communicated that to them clearly, thus eliciting a high level of performance. Leaders empower their followers by believing in them, and they rise to greatness as a result. The leaders make themselves larger by enlarging others. The leader constantly aims at moving people around him from dependence to independence to the state of inter-dependence. Swami Vivekananda had chosen ‘empower and facilitate’ philosophy over ‘command and control’ long before modern management realized its potential. Trust plays an important part in the process. If the leader does not trust his followers, he will use control instead of empowerment. Swami Vivekananda while exhorting his disciples to the highest levels of work had the fullest trust in them and their abilities. His urge to motivate people around him to aspire for higher levels of performance can be seen from this letter of his to his direct disciple Swami Shuddhananda in 1897. He writes, “…Lastly, you must remember i expect more from my children than from my brethren (his brother disciples). I want each one of my children to be a hundred times greater than i could ever be. Every one of you must be a giant – must, this is my word. Obedience, readiness, and love for the cause – if you have these three, nothing can hold you back.”

This also shows Swamiji’s interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate and develop people. One can even say that Swamiji’s call, “Arise, Awake and stop not till the goal is reached” was nothing but an attempt to empower people en-masse. J Carla Nortcutt had once said, “The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.” This is perhaps the best description of Swami Vivekananda, the greatest leader of our times.

Kannada version in Prajavani (17-May-12)

- Balu

Source:http://rbalu.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/swami-vivekananda-the-leader/