Stories
During this leadership development course one of the instructors quoted one of his previous mentors saying that leaders should have stories ready about:
mission, discipline, loyalty, and safety
This is in line with what one of my former mentors told me more briefly, “you need stories”. Ok - I thought, but stories about what? I have stories… I can tell a story… Typically I’m coming up with something appropriate on the spot. There are pros and cons to that approach.
This recommendation seems a lot more actionable. Here are four areas that I can think about in advance and plan to have stories ready for when necessary. I’m not sure when I’d be interested in talking about loyalty - to me that word has taken on an extremely negative connotation. Perhaps by reflecting a bit on stories where I found loyalty positive, I’ll find a way to revise that negative connotation.
So - I need to take some time to come up with these stories, and write down versions to share in a journal.