Why Focus on Your Leadership Story

"You are the actor, writer, and director of your leadership story.  You act in the moment, initiate ideas, provide a bigger view, and allow for ideas and creativity.  Understanding and communicating your leadership story can be quite powerful.  It provides clarity around what you stand for as a leader.  It keeps alive the people, values, and life lessons that you hold dear.  It gives you the power of influence and authenticity by allowing you to match your words and your actions.  It allows you to build trust.  Trust leads to credibility.

 

By helping you to understand what has shaped you as a leader, your leadership story can make the strong emotional connection that is necessary to inspire and motivate others.  It can also be a useful tool with which to impart knowledge and lessons to others - to help them learn from the experiences that have shaped your leadership story.  And it provides you and others with insights into what you hold important as a leader (p. 16)."

 

What is your leadership story?

 

 

From:  Tobin, T. (2015).  Your leadership story: use your story to energize, inspire and motivate. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.