Corporate Storytelling

CORPORATE STORYTELLING:
Discovering Fire for the Second Time
Vol. 8, No. 3, 2008

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"Heat is required to forge anything. Every great accomplishment is
the story of a flaming heart."

--Arnold H. Glasow, Author

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Developing dedicated employees--and ensuring they understand their individual roles in realizing the corporate mission--is a major concern for corporate leaders everywhere. One of the most enduring and beloved brands of the past 80+ years, Walt Disney Studios, succeeds on both counts. What's their secret? At the heart of a number of principles, says the director of Internal Communication at The Walt Disney Studios, is authenticity.

"If you don't believe in what you're doing, no one else will," Kelley Haggert says in a recent interview with Melcrum Communications. "You need to be very open, honest and forthcoming with messaging and information to employees.

"They just want to know what the challenges and opportunities are, what's happening to the business and what's going to impact them. They want to feel involved, appreciated and respected. Authentic communication is really the way to make that happen, and if your tactics line up with that, then you infinitely increase your chances of succeeding."

When you go out to dinner with friends, do you order what you want because it sounds good--or because it's different from what your friends order? How about your choice of cars when it's time to make a change? Is your decision totally reasoned out based on your family's needs, or do you justify your decision after you choose the car that seems the best deal? If, like most people, you've convinced yourself that your decisions are completely rational, you'll be fascinated by Dan Ariely's best-selling book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions. Business decisions are made in the same irrational ways, so it's crucial to understand the process if your job entails persuasion of any kind!

A behavioral economist at MIT, Ariely explains why people will spend big money on an expensive meal after clipping coupons to save 25 cents on a can of soup. Or why so many of us are willing to spend more than $4 for a cup of coffee when as recently as a few years ago a cup of coffee was less than $1. Presenting the results of numerous experiments that tested his theory, Ariely presents a convincing case that humans are easily convinced to make totally irrational decisions. He says instead of choosing what we want or need, we buy whatever product or service is the best deal compared to the options offered. Sure to be one that you'll want to refer to before making any significant purchase, the book may be purchased from Evelyn's online library at http://www.corpstory.com/amazon.htm

When the Westminster City Council in London led a major change initiative, they learned that there are five essential steps to driving a successful effort. One key lesson is that inviting opinions from the staff isn't enough; once the opinions are offered, you must respond to them! (Long-time readers of "Corporate Storytelling" will recall being reminded periodically that listening is a major component of communication, even though most business discussions focus on the other major component: developing and disseminating the message.)

Jane Easton, Westminster's internal communication manager, explains in Melcrum's latest edition of Strategic Communication Management that before you "introduce a few meaningful ways" for staff offer feedback, you need to be sure "you and the organization have the capacity and will to respond." The results of the Westminster Council's program saved more than Ł13.4 million, clearly a successful effort in anyone's book. How did they do it? Easton says the five essential steps to driving change are the following:

      3. Offer leaders a genuine insight
      4. Work with project managers
      5. Think global - act local

A keynote at the Blue Ridge Institute near Asheville, NC, is one of the presentations Evelyn delivered recently. Others include facilitating a company meeting; leading a four-day workshop at a conference in Greenville, SC, and presenting a two-day workshop at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN, for United Way executives. Coming up is another workshop in Tennessee, this time at a Veterans Administration conference.

In addition to retreat facilitations and presentations on the power of storytelling for leaders, Evelyn leads half- or one-day media relations training for executives and company spokespersons; and conducts workshops that help professionals hone their business writing skills. If people in your organization would like to improve their communication skills, call The Corporate Storyteller now to schedule a session. They're fun--and they're effective!

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Bring the power of story to your company, or to your organization's next conference or retreat. Book The Corporate Storyteller now. Call 1-866-818-8079.

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