What is your favourite childhood story book – the one that made your imagination come alive? Was it Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Aesop’s Fables, Jataka Tales or a specific story? Or were you an Enid Blyton fan?

Sometimes there were lessons to be learned in those stories. Like the ones in the Panchatantra where the heroes are animals behaving like humans. We learn from their experiences.

Now think back a little more and remember who was your favourite storyteller. Was it a parent, grandparent or teacher?

I’m willing to bet that whoever your favourite storyteller was, had a powerful influence on your life. The stories they told you addressed emotions and created a new world with new ideas for you. In many ways they were your leader as they opened up a realm of dreams for you.

We visualized the Hero on his Adventure and how he or she resolves the conflicts on their path to Success. Our subconscious mind registered the strategies and tactics for future use in the real world.

There’s always a moral of the story and this social and moral norm gets embedded in a young growing mind through the medium of a narrative.

In the Hindu tradition, the Ramayana is read and enacted in play form as are other Hero Journey stories for specific Gods to bring home the teachings that these Gods and their stories stood for.

Storytelling is a traditional and powerful tool of communication between people. A story can be defined in many ways. Briefly said, a story is a complex system of symbols. As such, stories give sense to things and events and represent norms, experience and explanations of reality. The basic values of people and groups are projected into them. We use stories to create personal and group identities, change social practices, and share knowledge and values.

 –Ludmila Mladkova, Leadership and Storytelling

In fact, we tell stories even in our day to day lives.

Our stories determine what we accept, how we see the world and influence our responses.

If you read my blog posts, more often than not, there is a story behind the point being communicated in that post from my perspective based on experience.

For example, imagine how bland a post on corporate politics would be if I didn’t share a story and simply dished out tips and points to follow?

You do it too even if you aren’t aware of the special meaning of your stories. With the advent of social media, you are sharing your story with the world through your updates whether they are happy ones, rants or even selfies!

Given the power of storytelling, it is not surprising that leaders often use storytelling to share their knowledge, explain new ideas, create new visions and influence their teams to strive for excellence by creating a group identity.

There is research being conducted to determine the relationship between leaders and storytelling. Modern research indicates that a leader can use stories and storytelling for:

• Explanation of ideas
• Smooth the implementation of change
• Communication improvement
• Tacit knowledge sharing
• Intensification of innovation
• Community and team building
• Planning
• Creation of scenarios and visions
• Coaching and training
• Communication with clients and other stakeholders
• Trust building
• E-learning and many others

How to tell a great story as a Leader

My favourite source for Leadership Storytelling is Steve or Stephen Denning, Author of The Leaders Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art & Discipline of Business Narrative.

According to Mr Denning, in order for a leader to create change using the medium of storytelling, the leader has to first focus on the priority change message and be clear about the problem that is being addressed and how the world would look like when the problem is resolved.

This is only 1 part of the change because the leader also has to understand the story of the follower in order to determine where possible resistance can crop up.

I remember a boss from my corporate world days with the habit of launching into war stories during critical deadlines. The team shuddered to go into his office for any clarification because it would become what we called in Hindi a gyaan session. (Gyaan means knowledge in Hindi, but in the office lingo of that time, it was used in a more sarcastic sense).

He was a boss who could have taught his team a lot more, but we never looked up to him as a Leader.

The stories were meant to encourage us in our firefighting and meeting tough deadlines but only added to delaying the work and adding stress.

In hindsight, I believe it was because he had not bothered to check on the timing of his story or the needs of the story listener.

The stories a leader shares aren’t supposed to be war stories which in a situation of change will be time wasters for the follower.

They are supposed to be stories that will get the attention of the listener and create the desire for change within them. Once the emotional and creative appeal has been established, it becomes easier to reinforce the desired outcome with logic, reason and rationale.

Annette Simmons has identified 6 kinds of stories that can be used depending upon the context of the situation to facilitate effective communication within a group by bringing the group members together, sustain values, promote mutual respect and increase productivity:

“Who I Am” Stories

“Why I’m Here” Stories

“Vision” Stories

“Values in Action” Stories

“Teaching” Stories

“I Know What You’re Thinking” Stories

A story is only as good as the storyteller.

Remember I asked you earlier about your favourite storyteller in your childhood?

I’m willing to bet it wasn’t the stories they told but the way that they narrated the story.

Similar principles apply here too – without too much theatrics, of course.

In other words, maintain eye contact, use appropriate body language, an open stance, pause for effect and sound like you really mean the story. Let your passion shine through for the story.

The right story in the right context can work wonders. It can tap into the emotions of the listener but depending upon how it is narrated, it can do more harm than good.

In my post Helicopter View – You need to see the Big Picture for Success, I narrated how our Managing Partner took the stage to break the news of changes in our firm and how he ended up terrifying us.

He told his Vision Story with passion, walking all over the stage but had not taken his audience’s story into account or presented facts in a concrete or specific manner. If the intention was to have gotten us thinking, it certainly did but not in the direction that he had imagined!

Storytelling is a valuable tool for Leaders and aspiring Leaders. I’ve included additional resources and book recommendations at the bottom of this post.

For now, I want you to reflect on the guidance in this post and tell me, do your stories demonstrate your Leadership skills.

Storytelling and Leadership – Additional Resources

The Leaders Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art & Discipline of Business Narrative: Stephen Denning

The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling: Annette Simmons

7 Tips for great storytelling as a Leader: Dianna Booher

How to use storytelling as a Leadership Tool : Dan Schwabel

Did you know you have the ability to exercise power in the workplace like a Leader, even if you aren’t the boss?

This point came up during a coaching session with a client who is being groomed for a Leadership role. Anita (name changed) was given the task of motivating professionals in her organization to attend critical compliance and methodology training sessions during the Christmas season and early January this year.

These training sessions were being recorded but the Higher Ups wanted more live attendance and audience participation.

Her concerns were genuine because none of the targeted attendees were working for her. Her sphere of control over this matter was limited.

How was she going to get attendance compliance from this targeted audience?

What she didn’t know was that power doesn’t only come from position. There are other types of power that can be exercised to achieve the end objective while demonstrating leadership skills.

5 bases of Power and their Source

John French and Bertram Raven identified 5 bases of power in the early 1960’s through a study they had conducted on power in leadership roles.

The study showed how different types of power affected one’s leadership ability and success in a leadership role.

For the purposes of explanation, the person exercising power is referred to as the agent.

The 5 bases of power are divided into two categories:

Formal Power

Coercive Power is gotten through threatening others. The target person complies in order to avoid punishments he or she believes are controlled by the agent. It is conveyed through fear of losing one’s job, being passed up for a promotion or being deprived of an assignment that is given to another colleague.

Reward Power where employees are rewarded for compliance with one’s wishes. The target person complies in order to obtain rewards he or she believes are controlled by the agent. It is conveyed by giving time off, bonuses, promotions or even a complimentary meal at a tony restaurant.

In my post on the antics of Big Brother Cat’s style of leadership, the Manager used both these forms of power – coercive to get the job done under pressure and then turning to reward power as a treat for the team. A strange combination because it sent out mixed messages to the team and undermined his true power potential as a leader.

Legitimate power comes from a position in the organization such as being a team leader or head of department. The target person complies because he or she believes the agent has the right to make the request and the target person has the obligation to comply. The agent’s authority isn’t questioned.

Informal or Personal Power

Expert Power comes from one’s skills, experience or knowledge. The target person complies because he or she believes that the agent has special knowledge about the best way to do something.

This was the power that I exercised during the assignment where Big Brother Cat treated us live galley slaves. As the Technical Manager, I had the expertise knowledge and skills to lead the team.

Referent Power comes from being trusted and respected. The target person complies because he or she admires or identifies with the agent and wants to gain the agent’s approval. We gain this power when we show others that we are worthy of trust and are the situational leader.

Referent Power acts a little like role model power. It depends on holding the other person in high esteem and usually develops over time.

How to use your power with peers & subordinates

In any situation where power is exercised, there can be 1 of 3 objective outcomes – commitment (to do the task), compliance with the order or resistance to the task.

Gary A Yukl in his book Leadership in Organizations (1989) used the power bases identified by French and Raven and based on further research, developed guidelines for influencing others. While the guidelines address leader influence attempts with subordinates, the principles’ underlying these guidelines apply equally well to influence attempts with peers as well as with superiors.

According to his research, the two types of power most likely to produce compliance are legitimate or position power and reward power.

In the context of legitimate power, authority should be exercised in clear and concise written or verbal format using language that is understood by the target. A polite request will achieve the desired compliance compared to an arrogant demand. It’s important that the request be perceived as being within the scope of the requester’s authority.

Coming back to Anita, as the driver of the training sessions, she had the legitimate power to request the Managers to instruct their subordinates to commit to attending the training sessions.

However, that wasn’t enough. The request had to outline the benefits of the training as well as provide some incentive to the attendees.

This is where Reward Power came into the picture.

The reward had to be something that held intrinsic value for the target person. In this case, since she was dealing with professionals who had to demonstrate Continuing Professional Development practice, the live attendees were promised points that would count towards their professional education. They were also given a certificate of attendance or completion of training.

Commitment of the Managers and their teams was also required.

Clearly my client had to exercise more of her personal or informal power to achieve the compliance objective of getting her colleagues to attend the training.

Fortunately, she was the facilitator of the trainings and has over the years, built up her network within the organization and developed her Executive Presence.

This gave her Referent Power to request her peers to attend the training with their teams.

By the time the first batch of training was completed, she had established her Expert Power with those attendees who didn’t know her from before.

The rest of her sessions went well and she received appreciative feedback with requests for more training on specific topics.

The reason I’ve shared my client Anita’s case study with you is to demonstrate that you don’t have to be a leader or in a senior position in an organization to have power.

In fact the most respect is garnered by those who have personal sources of power.

When employees associate power with expert or referent, they are more engaged and willing to go the extra mile for the organization’s goals.

Which type of power do you exercise with your colleagues and subordinates to achieve your organization’s goals?

Additional Resources on Leadership Power:

Level Up Your Leadership

French & B.H. Raven, Studies of Social Power, Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, MI (1959).

French and Raven’s bases of power 

Leadership in Organizations (8th Edition) 

Also available on Amazon India

Influence is the Value Force Of Leadership 

Developing Leadership Guide and Planner 

Goal achievement in Group Settings – hurrah!

As a Facilitator of Group Programs and Workshops, I know that the ultimate responsibility for achieving the collective and individual goal rests with the Leader. Where the Leader is also a Coach, the Group Leader Coach applies the same coaching principals of self-revelation to the group environment. Many a Group member problem can be addressed in the Group setting.

An immediate example of such a Leader/Facilitator is Loralee Hutton. I recently participated in one of Loralee’s free online programs –14 Day Product Challenge –Because Finishing Changes Everything.  This was part of the release of her new book on Kindle Infoproduct Complete: Because Finishing Changes Everything.

The Group dynamics on Facebook were the best that I have ever experienced as a participant.

The student was ready, and the Master appeared. I finally created and launched a product I had wanted to for a long time in less than 14 days – Crack the Code to Your Professional Brand & Create an Awesome Online Presence.

This week I’m sharing the 5 ways a good Group Leader can actually make a difference to the achievement of the collective and individual goal.

We’ll also discuss what it takes to be an effective Leader in the workplace. Especially if your role involves mentoring and providing hands on training to your team.

Understand the role you play as a Leader/Facilitator

Initially, when the group first comes together, members require boundaries to be set so that they know what is expected of them and what to expect of the facilitator. Your role as Leader and Facilitator is to assist in the Group forming process.

It is not uncommon for some members, who may have prior experience or knowledge to attempt taking over the group while others may try to withdraw.

I’ve seen this happen in some of my workshops as well as during my Auditor days. It takes alertness to nip such tendencies at the very beginning in a firm but polite manner.

An ideal group will travel through four stages of development outlined in Bruce Tuckman’s ‘Forming Storming’ Team Development Stages Model – 1965 and a good Leader will facilitate a smooth transition.

Bruce Tuckman’s ‘Forming Storming’ Team Development Stages Model -1965

Understanding Your Team’s Motivation and Empowering Them

Generally, a person who is entering a group environment is motivated by self-interest, or a ‘what’s in this for me?’ attitude.

It is important for the Leader/Facilitator to design the work program and if there are going to be delegated tasks in the team, to plan and outline them in advance and share them with the Group Members at the very first meeting.

As the Leader, it is up to you to demonstrate value from the very beginning to maintain the motivation of the group and empower them to continue on the tasks.

In any scenario, you will notice 2 extremes of personalities ranging from the egotistical and self-centered members to the altruistic, others-centered individuals.

You may also find a few who are already team players and ready to take on the challenge.

This is normal. At the start of the program or assignment, many of your group members may not know each other or may be parts of cliques. Keen observation will help to identify the dynamics. If you have planned your program properly, there will be a shift toward a more balanced team with each member supporting and being supported in the areas where others may require assistance.

This is the time when the greatest work is done in a team environment as each individual achieves their individual goals and add to the overall success of the Group goal.

Know your Group’s Skill Sets

For a group to succeed, it must have sufficient skills to be able to:

• communicate with each other 
• participate within the group 
• trust one another 
• disagree/agree/discuss positively 
• take responsibility for individual activities/actions

As the group facilitator it is important for you to not only be aware of the individual personalities within the group but also moderate and encourage the above skills in your group.

Cover the 4 Learning Styles

Each group member is unique, and according to their personality type, they will learn according to four main learning styles.

A well-designed program ensures each participant gets the benefit of learning according to their style.

When the Group starts interacting as a team, each member will support the other in areas of deficiency and the facilitator will need to only step in where there is critical learning or implementation issues where new knowledge or skills are shared.

4 learning styles of group program participants

Motivating the individual member

While focusing on the overall Group, it is important to remember that a person who has decided to enter the Group Program would have already decided that they have a need to make a change, a deficiency that needs to be addressed or the need to acquire a new skill.

A truly motivated individual would feel that they can make the change.

A good Leader/Facilitator’s role here is to keep that motivation going throughout the course of the program. To feed their motivation and enhance their self-esteem they need encouragement and support from the Facilitator and fellow group members.

Because motivation needs constant feeding and enhancing, you will need to assist them in setting goals in a realistic manner.

Each member needs appropriate goals, a choice of how to reach them and the responsibility for their own learning.

It is important to remember that these individuals are being brave to bring about changes. By joining your Group have indicated that they are ready to step out of their comfort zone.

Each individual, no matter how encouraged by the other team members will still need encouragement and acknowledgement of their steps towards the goal from you.

If they start to stumble, you need to be there to help break their fall and bring them back on track.

Depending upon the individual in question and their comfort level, you might need to moderate your strokes – a transaction that makes us feel good.

Think of how pleased your pet is when you stroke them – same principles apply here. Remember not to overstep boundaries and end up mothering or spoon feeding the participant. They are here to learn!

The beauty of a well-integrated group has to be seen and experienced. You know the group has reached the stage of Performing when the team members start stroking each other to continue towards the final goal.

Here are some examples:

• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Applauding another member.
• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Congratulating another member.
• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Supporting another member. 
• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Smiling (even online groups have smiles)
• Paying a ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­compliment. 
• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Offering to help out. 
• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Nodding on support of what another person is saying (in an online Facebook Group, this will be the Like for a comment)

Group Programs can be unbelievably powerful when the central principle of team is that the whole is going to be greater than the sum of its parts.

This is where you get a chance to demonstrate how a good Group Leader actually improves the chances of achieving individual Goals.

What about you? Have you ever moderated a Group? How did you ensure you and the Group achieved your Goals? Please share your experiences in the comments box below.

PS. Here’s the result of what I created in the challenge, just for you! Just click on the image. Thanks.

Written by: Vatsala Shukla

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