One of our favorite story tellers is a guy named Brian Andreas, whose colorful drawings and simple stories can be found on cards, furniture, wall hangings, tote bags, and just about everything else you can imagine. His little company is called Story People and they'll deliver a story to your email inbox every day, if you ask them nicely. (Actually, all you have to do is sign up for this free service at their website.) Today's story goes like this:
stable as long as nothing else in the whole world shifts (so don't get your hopes up)That's a great story for anyone who is trying to lead an organization or a community they care about into this emerging future. The world is changing at lightning speed; no one and no organization is immune. We're not even sure why anyone would want to be. But we know it can be scary.
That's why we've written The Future Starts Now. We make this promise in that little book: "...we don't know what seminaries, judicatories, denominations or parachurch organizations will look like 100 or even 10 years from now; or if they will even exist in a way that will be recognizable to us. But we are quite sure that God will work, as God has always done, in and through people, to bring reconciliation and freedom to the world God so loves. And we want to be ready for whatever that looks like. We suspect you do, too."
We've got some ideas about how you can make your way confidently, creatively, and collaboratively into this emerging future. That's what our nine-city "Treasure in Clay Jars" tour is about this year. (Click here to learn more.) But we're not the only ones with good ideas!
The folks over at Center for Creative Leadership are suggesting in this month's newsletter that story-telling is one of the keys to facing and embracing change in an organization. They've interviewed Lani Peterson, a leadership coach and professional story-teller, who tells about her work with a CEO who was convinced he needed to fact people into the future. She helped him discover the power of story-telling, instead:
By replacing a rote presentation with storytelling, the CEO set a new, and unexpected, tone for the management meeting. He created a more accurate picture of himself and, by example, gave permission for others to personally re-connect to their work and roles as leaders.
"That half-hour shifted his relationship to the staff and the board," Peterson recalls. "It moved him from a distant, one-dimensional person to a leader who is engaged and genuine. He was asking the organization to change; it was important that he showed up changed, too."
So, what's your story? What are you passionate about? Why? How are you being changed? What are you afraid of? What are you excited about? Who has shaped you and your ability to lead? Who is your role model or mentor? What have you learned from them? Where have you seen the impact of your organization? What difference are you making together? Who in your organization exemplifies for you what it means to work with purpose? Who is modeling creative, collaborative behavior? Who is working in renewable ways? What is giving you life?
Tell it.
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