Cityam 2015-05-21

32THURSDAY 21 MAY 2015cityam.comOFFICEPOLITICSIs storytellingan overlookedbusiness skill?The most successful leaders use narrationto inspire their teams, says Luis BarruetoCOMPANIES are no strangers to thevalue of storytelling. Marketershave long known the value of asimple story in persuadingpeople to buy their products or services.A recent study by Johns HopkinsUniversity, for example, analysed thecontent of more than a hundred SuperBowl commercials. They found that themore complete a story marketers tell intheir ads, the higher it performs in therating polls. People like commercialsthat feature the traditional dramaticstructure – exposition, rising action,falling action, and denouement – itsresearchers said.Stories evoke a strong neurologicalresponse. Neuroscientist Paul Zak hasfound that, during the tense momentsin a story, our brains produce cortisol,the so-called stress hormone. In contrast,the emotional elements promptthe release of oxytocin, a hormone thatpromotes empathy and connectionwith others. But advertising is just oneof the ways firms can tap into the powerof storytelling. Increasingly, leaders arecommunicating their vision and gainingsupport for their strategies bybecoming raconteurs.COMMUNICATING THE BUSINESS JOURNEYWhile the hard facts or a well-thoughtout strategy can persuade people, aTo navigate hardtimes, acompelling storymay be just whatyou needAutomationmade simpleWorkflow£2.49Workflow enablesiOS users toautomate andperform repetitivetasks with simpledrag-and-drop tools.This can come inhandy for routinetasks that requireseveral steps, and itcan help you savetime. For example,you can create asingle instruction touse the last threescreenshots in yourcamera roll to createa Gif, and then sendit to your contacts. Oryou can build a ruleto get the RSS feedsfrom a webpage, andwhich then addsthem to yourpreferred reader, likeFeedly or Overcast.story is more effective in inspiring themto act. Companies can do this bycreating a vision of where the business isheading, the challenges it will face andwhat it can do to overcome them – thentell that via a narrative, MartinClarkson, co-founder of consultancyfirm The Storytellers, told City A.M.Take the example of casino developerSteve Wynn. He had already establisheda standard in style and ambience withlandmarks like the Bellagio or TreasureIsland. But when he opened the Wynn,his flagship resort to date, his goal wasto take service to the next level. He wantedto “get everyone on the hotel tofeel accountable for every customers’satisfaction, and to make every memberof staff to feel like they contributedto the client experience,”says Clarkson.To do this, they created a corporatestory to inspire all employees to putthe customer first and ensure guestswould “never want to leave”. To bringthis main narrative into life, it wasimportant to tap into smaller anecdotesthat each employee could relateto. This resulted in the heartwarmingstory of a porter who wentthe extra mile to help a guest whohad left important medication athome, by getting a friend to personallycourier it to the hotel.SPARKING CONVERSATIONSFirms can also use stories to gathersupport during times of change, likea merger or even a financial crisis.City National Bank’s chief executives,for example, started exploring narrativetechniques just before the start ofthe great recession. “They had a sensethat the crisis was coming, and theywanted to have a story that wouldprovide structure and context to thetough decisions they saw ahead,” saysClarkson.While they’re not a silver bullet, storiesspark conversation about howstaff can make a difference and contributeto the success of the company.Clarkson adds: “leaders who canarticulate a clear, compellingbusiness journey and gain momentumfor that vision are the ones whowill achieve extraordinary success inthe years ahead”.