Thoughts – 2008
21st Century Skill - Highlight 7
Storytelling Skills - Listen to the Thought Pod
“We invest in another when we see ourselves as uniquely privileged and available to join his or her story.” Dan B. Allender in To Be Told - Know Your Story, Shape Your Future
Story is a powerful tool used to engage others in designing a better future and in creating an understandable connection with meaningful action in the present.
The privilege of coaching puts me in the position of supporting individual Leaders in understanding self and embracing personal story. Your very own unique story is being told with every moment ... and so it is also with each and every person in whose eyes you are the Leader. The more conscious we become of the unfolding story, the more we enjoy the proverbial journey versus the sometimes disappointing arrival.
I can remember, as a teen, looking forward to some event - so very excited. I could see it all playing out in my mind. And many times, the event did not play out quite like I'd seen it thus leaving me let down and unfulfilled. But now as I reflect on the best of memories, seeing the events almost like they were yesterday, I realize something very important. Those events are so clear because I was present - in the moment - when they unfolded.
And so I've learned one of life's lessons that I try to apply with my Clients - see your own story in your daily actions.
Storytelling is artful narrative applied to bring people together as a result of individualized interpretation of the story.
Some Leaders see storytelling only as performance art. I live in the center of the Storytelling universe - Jonesborough, Tennessee and I've been very involved with the International Storytelling Center. It is performance art. However, story and storytelling is so much more as the art found its birth in the fact that we are all tellers.
Storytelling is simply part of our communicative DNA. We tell stories practically every day and we tell them for a reason. We tell because we are driven to do so. We tell because we need to be engaged with others in this journey. We have a story to tell and we must tell it. Telling it well allows us to join forces in the sometimes illusive realm of engagement.