Storytelling for Leaders Master Class (Starts 2/10/20)

Leaders need to be good storytellers because a well-crafted story resonates with the audience long after it’s been told. The human brain loves stories. Think about all the family stories that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Well-developed, character-driven stories with emotional content result in a better understanding of the key points a leader wishes to make and enables better recall of these points weeks later. People remember stories that have an emotional impact on them. If they can relate to the hero or heroine, they are more likely to connect to the story and personalize it.

Dr. Martin Luther King Was Also a Great Storyteller

We all recognize Dr. Martin Luther King as a great leader and a great orator, but did you know he was also a master storyteller?

In my university leadership classes, we regularly study Dr. King as a leader and I have listened to his speeches countless times. As I was working on the new Leadership Storytelling Master Class for our Professional Leadership Academy, I began reflecting on Dr. King’s accomplishments and his speeches. His accomplishments came to mind because I probably wouldn’t be doing the work I do without the strides he helped make. His speeches were great, but I wondered how they worked as stories. I was quite impressed with what I learned. For this exercise, I examined his March on Washington speech from 1963 (commonly referred to as the “I Have a Dream” speech). Here are some of the storytelling techniques he used and the lessons for leaders to use in their storytelling:

How We Measure & Monitor Leadership

Many believe that leadership improvement is not something that can be measured quantifiably. We have all listened to presentations by leadership experts that expound on how well their leadership training works without any proof to substantiate their claims. When asked about how they know it works, the answers typically fall into 2 categories, “We can tell” or the dreaded, “We believe it worked.” Neither of these are acceptable to an organization or an individual that has spent their time and money for the training. With the right tool, a well-designed leadership training program can easily be quantifiably measured.

Welcome to Cyber Week!

At our training site, the Professional Leadership Academy, we want you to be part of our week long Cyber Week celebration. To help you get a jump start on improving your leadership for 2020, we have a very special offer for you. 

Enroll in either of our online leadership programs for 60% off until December 8, 2019. Just use the coupon code ‘cyberweek‘ at checkout.

The self-study courses are open now and you can start at anytime within 60 days of enrollment. The next guided-study cohort begins January 6, 2020. These courses also make the perfect gift for family, friends and colleagues.

If you are still on the fence about our proven, comprehensive leadership program with measurable results, try it out with some free lessons in our COURSE PREVIEW and see how well it works for you.

Five Truths About Leadership

As we close out this decade, let’s take a cold hard look at leadership. It is probably one of the most misunderstood and misappropriated fields of study around. To help you better understand what is real from what is fluff, I have created 5 truths about leadership based on my extensive leadership experience, leadership research, interviews with executives and teaching in a top-20 university Organizational Leadership program.