The Power of Stories – John P. Kotter, HBS

John P. Kotter, a renowned expert on leadership at the Harvard Business School (mini bio below), recently wrote a piece in Forbes called, “The Power Of Stories.”

The article has some nice nuggets of insight and wisdom on storytelling and storytelling for leaders.

Here are a few of my favorite nuggets… all are direct quotes from the article.

– “Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.”

– “We learn best–and change–from hearing stories that strike a chord within us.”

– “Too few business leaders grasp the idea that stories can have a profound effect on people.”

– “The gestures made (or not made) by leaders can turn into the stories that powerfully affect behavior.”

– “Sam Walton was famous for the stories told by and about him, especially those that featured his visits to his [Wal-Mart] stores.”

– “The stories that a company broadcasts about itself can also have a powerful impact on customers, shareholders and employees.”

Kotter posed two very interesting and compelling questions that we should ask ourselves every day.

Question 1:  “What are the stories that define us in light of our customers, employees and shareholders?

Question 2:  “Are these the stories we want to tell – and have others tell about us?”

Mini Bio, John P. Kotter

The HBS article includes this bio, John P. Kotter, a renowned expert on leadership at the Harvard Business School, has been the premier voice on how the best organizations actually “do” change. His bestseller, Leading Change–with an actionable, eight-step process for implementing successful transformations–became the change bible for managers around the world.

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