The Snitch

Take note: Can your life experiences be used as a motivational tool?

Can storytelling lead to great leadership?  Yes, says Peter Guber. With an wealth of experience of leadership in the Hollywood film and media industry under his belt, Guber says, “Your ability to narrate your offering — not just the facts, data, PowerPoints, but emotionally move them — that is the secret sauce for getting them to do something.”

Guber suggests leaders can help employees thrive in a complicated business environment through narration. “Narrative bonds information to an emotional experience,” he says. Rather than conjuring random anecdotes, the objective is to form narration out of a situation at hand, and make others feel like characters in a drama.

Guber uses MAGIC as an anagrammatic device, which stands for Motivating your Audience to a Goal Interactively with great Content.

Motivating: Guber feels the key to motivating someone is to be authentic. “You’ve got to have your feet, your heart, your wallet and your tongue going in the same direction. As soon as they see those things going in different directions, you don’t seem authentic.”

Audience: Think of your listeners as an audience, says Guber. When you speak like you’re speaking to an audience, they will naturally do the “emotional dance” with you, find resonance in your presentation, creating an unforgettable emotional experience.

Goal: Guber stresses that goals are very important, and it is okay to be very up front with them.

Interactivity: Make your audience part of the story and give them stories to remember. By doing so, the stories will live on and they will tell their own experiences, not just yours.

Content: Guber feels the material for stories can come from anywhere, from your own experiences, observations, history, metaphors to analogies. He advises collecting the stories and making them part of your business leadership life.

(via)