In Seth Godin’s new book, Tribes, he says that there are vast opportunities for people to be leaders everywhere and in every environment now.

Think about it, stories throughout history have seeded powerful changes. For example, JFK in 1961 gave a speech that painted a picture in people’s minds, it was a vision of sending a man safely to the moon. By 1969 it happened.

Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I have a dream…” speech in 1963 used story structure with such sentences as, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” He created a picture in people’s minds of a positive vision of the future, and helped create that possibility within one generation.

Stories are an element like fire

Beware, however, that a well-told story is powerful. Stories are like fire. You can use them with a benevolent or malevolent intention. You can warm up ideas, cook up motivation and empower a vision. You can also burn and destroy through stories. Examples of this are negative gossip, media stories that engender fear and distrust, or the speeches of totalitarian rulers like Hitler.  A Change Artist uses stories with a benevolent intention, to serve a positive vision of the future.

A workplace example – more fun on the job

Here is a simple example of a woman who used the power of story on the job to create more fun at work.  I coached a woman named Mandy who worked in a long term care facility and she was responsible for internal customer service.  She wanted to pitch the idea of a fun at work staff calendar. This was right around the time that calendar-making software programs were a new thing. Mandy’s first attempt was to use fact-based, fear driven concepts. She left a voicemail for her boss.

Hi Carol, I just wanted to run an idea by you. What do you think about a calendar as a gift that’s full of staff pictures from the Christmas party? Morale has been very low. We just got through the downsizing and the merger. It’s low budget and you know how tight things are right now. Let me know. — Mandy

She never heard back from Carol, so Mandy sent an e-mail with the same basic message. Carol replied that they would talk about it at the next staff meeting. They ended up having to drop that item on the agenda due to lack of time. That is when Mandy and I worked on a simple but different pitch.

This is the second way she ended up trying it. She asked if she could see Carol for 10 minutes face-to-face. She agreed. Here is how Mandy tried it this time.

I was over at the house of a friend the other night for dinner and I noticed on her refrigerator was a calendar. For the month of October there was a picture of my friend, Wendy, receiving the Best Coiffed Hair Award. She said that photo was taken at last year’s Christmas party. They had a Fun Awards Event. Each person received the name of another staff person and was asked to give a Fun Award. For example, the Most Perky Morning Person Award recipient got a Starbuck’s gift basket. The Robin Williams on Wheels Award went to a very funny fellow in health records who is in a wheelchair. They took photos of the whole evening then turned it into a calendar and gave two calendars to all the staff members. I have it right here – take a look.

Mandy showed the calendar to her boss and it was full of photos of people laughing outrageously, a picture of Santa Claus juggling giant candy canes, a photo of another group of employees cheering, and one fellow dressed up like a giant exclamation mark.

Mandy continued, Everyone loved this gift better than any gift before or after. My friend bought an extra one for the Fitness facility where she teaches part-time. They had been having trouble recruiting new nursing staff. After a nurse at the Fitness Centre saw the calendar- she applied for a job there. She said it looked like a fun place to work where people seem to care about each other.

Mandy finished her story by starting to explain about the cost involved, but Carol interrupted her and said, “I don’t care what it costs, let’s do it! I love it.”

The calendar was a big hit with all the employees in Mandy’s hospital. Not only did staff buy more at their own expense, even seven years later people still have that particular calendar up on their walls. It also helped them recruit and keep new nursing staff during a time when there was a huge shortage of trained people.

They increased morale among staff also ended up having a powerful effect on the mood of the residents of the facility. After one long time resident died he bequeathed part of his estate to the facility in gratitude to the generous care he received.