When using a story can have negative consequences

STOP PRESS

Hi Everyone,

From 1 July 2023, my posts will be published fortnightly (instead of weekly). Thank you to my regular readers, my sometimes readers and my new readers for making the time to read the posts. I appreciate it.

Michael K

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Let me start by saying, that the use of a story, is one of the best ways to make an idea stick the mind of the listener and/or prompt a listener to take action. However, reflecting on my interactions with clients, colleagues and prospective clients, it seems many people overesteem the use of stories and of storytelling. It seems people believe that telling story has no downside.

At times, the use of a story can have negative consequences.

It can result in a person making a bad decision.

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Do you have what it takes to be an enterprise leader?

Last week I had a meeting with a Group HR director, of a multinational organisation.

I ask the director what was top of mind in his work.

He said that what he talks about most during the present time, was ‘helping his people – who were competent ‘leaders of a function’ (ie. a function within the organisation) – move to being able to be a competent ‘leader of an enterprise’.

The director said, a leader of an enterprise – in effect a C level function –

needed to bring people together and communicate ideas seamlessly,

to different audiences.

One word he used, which he said ‘leaders of functions’ needed to develop – and which comes up a lot and can be hard to define – was gravitas.  I’ve written about gravitas in prior posts.

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This golfing tip will make you a better communicator

“A ‘swing thought’ is a golfer’s term for a single correction to your form that you keep in mind as you stand over the ball. The idea is to try to make several adjustments at once, is a setup for failure. A swing thought focuses on a very specific, single behaviour that stands for the overall shift you are seeking to make.”

This quote is from the book, Fear your strengths. by Robert Kaplan and Robert Kaiser. The golf swing has applications to the workplace. For example, a client of mind would often ramble in his presentations to senior executives. His swing thought before he started to speak (in golfer’s parlance, that is, when standing over the ball) was

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