… a friend of a friend can talk, his pals call him ‘Jackanory*’. It is not a compliment!
Yet, story telling is at the heart of much of what we do. Storytelling is a fundamental part of our human experience. Done well it grabs attention, creates emotion and builds connection. The engagement through stories can educate, inspire action, elicit empathy or effect change. Effective storytelling in a corporate context requires a skilful approach to humanise brand identities, marketing themes and organisation culture. (Marshall Wolfe partners with Chronicle to capture inspiring stories as part of our portfolio of Talent Attraction tools).
When we founded Marshall Wolfe we knew we wanted to challenge the way many companies went about attracting, hiring and retaining talented individuals. We spoke with lots of successful organisations and told the stories. The stories of perceived poor value exchange with agencies, stories of exasperated candidates and stories relating to attractive organisations failing to secure the individuals they needed. We told the stories and we listened to the responses. Many of those organisations have become our customers … and we created some interesting products designed to address problems in the hiring market; … and we then started to fall into a familiar trap. We started talking about our products. We started to sell. We were pleased with what we had created, but we didn’t tell as many stories and we stopped listening quite as effectively. Lesson re-learnt. Stories influence!
At Data Journeys we also learn from stories; (see photo) Jason Thorpe of The British Heart Foundation tells us an entertaining story about some of the data challenges facing their data-driven programme. You can tell that it is a well told story. We’re engaged and we’re entertained. Some of us are natural story tellers, some of us have learned to tell good stories, but influencing through story telling is a particular skill set.
At the next Data Journeys event, Isobel Rimmer helps us Influence with our stories. Influence customers, influence the c-suite and influence our colleagues.
For me, it is a ‘must attend’ for anyone looking to drive data-driven cultures.
Don’t just be a Jackanory; influence with your story.
(*for those of you of a different generation – Jackanory)
