Category: Storytelling

A new chapter

Posted on 13th October 202313th October 2023 by Chris Spencer

After 20 years pioneering the power of storytelling to activate people, accelerate change and unlock extraordinary performance, we are delighted to be embarking on an exciting new chapter, announcing today that we are now part of Accenture, the leading global talent and innovation-led professional services company.

People are demanding more human connection and authenticity from leaders as they tackle today’s pertinent issues – including the rise of AI and sustainability. Leaders need a fresh way to motivate people to take action, bridging the gap between strategy and execution which is where many transformations can fail. With Accenture’s expertise and highly respected transformational change capabilities, we believe now is the time to take our business to the next level and join forces to deepen our impact with clients.

We have identified huge synergy between us, with a mutual focus on human potential to create transformation. In Accenture’s press release Tim Good, Accenture’s Talent & Organisation / Human Potential lead, EMEA said: “In 20 years, The Storytellers have built a formidable reputation for helping business leaders accelerate their transformation strategies to thrive in a world of fast-paced change. A compelling vision and narrative are now fundamental for driving change, and they bring deep understanding of the transformative power of a story and its role in energising people around a shared ambition. Together, with Accenture’s breadth of consulting and technology services, we will bring an innovative team to C-Suite clients to help them reinvent their business and build resilience for the future.”

At our heart we are storytellers, and will continue to focus on helping organisations around the world to harness the emotional connection, inspiration, motivation, behaviour change, empowerment and recognition storytelling creates for their people. Our team of experts in creativity, storytelling and transformation are excited about our next chapter and how we can make even more powerful magic happen for clients, their employees, customers and wider stakeholders. We thank each and every one of them, and our associate network, for helping to develop our craft and being on the journey with us to this amazing moment in our own history. We also partnered with Trachet who enabled us to reach this great result by helping articulate The Storytellers’ unique value and positioning as well as the thrilling potential of becoming part of Accenture.

If you’d like to explore how our extended capabilities can now support you in even better ways please do contact our team, or me directly at chris.spencer@thestorytellers.com

Inspirational leadership storytelling techniques Steve Jobs built Apple’s success on

Posted on 6th October 20236th October 2023 by Robert Tennant

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc., was not just a visionary in the world of technology; he was also a masterful storyteller. His ability to weave compelling narratives played a pivotal role in inspiring and motivating the people at Apple. Through a combination of captivating speeches, product launches, and a deep understanding of human psychology, Jobs harnessed the power of storytelling to create a company culture that drove innovation and excellence.

A compelling origin story

Apple’s story began in a garage, where Jobs and Steve Wozniak built their first computer. Jobs knew that every great business needed a compelling origin story, and he often shared this humble beginning with employees. He used this narrative to instil a sense of purpose and determination in his workforce, reminding them that Apple was not just a technology company but a symbol of innovation and rebellion against the status quo.

Creating a vision for the future

Jobs had an uncanny ability to paint a vivid picture of the future. He used storytelling to create a compelling vision for Apple, one where technology seamlessly integrated into our lives, transforming the way we work and play. His famous “1984” commercial for the Macintosh is a prime example of his visionary storytelling. By showing an Orwellian dystopia shattered by the introduction of the Macintosh, he not only introduced a product but also a vision of empowerment and freedom.

Making it relatable

Steve Jobs understood that technology could be intimidating. To bridge the gap between complex technology and everyday users, he employed storytelling. During product launches, he would often share anecdotes and real-life scenarios where Apple’s products could improve people’s lives. He made technology relatable by telling stories about how his own experiences shaped his vision for Apple’s products. And this technique continues in Apple’s product launches, with very emotive human stories being used at the start of the latest product event.

Building emotional connections

Jobs realised that people don’t just buy products; they buy into stories and emotions. He was a master at building emotional connections with both employees and customers. When he returned to Apple in 1997, he delivered a speech where he said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” This narrative of challenging the status quo and making a difference resonated deeply with employees, motivating them to push boundaries and achieve greatness.

Resilience through narrative

Apple faced its share of setbacks and failures over the years, but Jobs used these moments to reinforce the narrative of resilience and determination. When he returned to Apple, he often referred to the company’s near-collapse as a valuable learning experience, emphasising the importance of staying true to Apple’s core values.

Inspiring innovation

One of Jobs’ greatest storytelling talents was his ability to inspire innovation. He encouraged employees to think differently and embrace a mindset of innovation. He once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” This narrative encouraged Apple’s workforce to constantly seek new ideas and approaches, driving the company’s continued success.

Steve Jobs was not just a tech visionary; he was a master storyteller who used narratives to inspire, motivate, and shape the culture at Apple. He understood that stories have the power to connect people to a shared vision, to make technology relatable, and to foster a culture of innovation. Jobs’ legacy at Apple continues to live on through the company’s dedication to storytelling, a testament to the enduring power of narrative in inspiring employees and a devoted customer base and driving success.

Putting ourselves in sales leaders’ shoes

Posted on 16th August 202329th August 2023 by Matt Renton

Selling is full of ugly jargon. Thinking of customers as ‘prospects’ and ‘leads’, and using expressions like pipelines, deal-flows, MQLs and customer acquisition costs gives selling and sales people a bad name.

So we’re telling the stories that are Reimagining Sales and enabling sales teams around the world to do the same. We help them to move away from the clichés and the staid products/benefits approach, shifting to the concept of potential outcomes for their customers, based on an understanding of their needs, objectives, and pain points.

Sales teams need to understand the journey customers are on and demonstrate how they empathise with their situation. It’s time to ‘PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES’.

At The Storytellers we think deeply about business strategies for clients and marry that with distinctive, creative story-driven approaches. We’ve explored the story that is common to sales leaders and their teams – it’s a peek into our smart thinking around outcome-based selling, coming together with an engaging idea to motivate audiences both rationally and emotionally.

Don’t wait for the other shoe to drop. Have a read and reimagine the power of your sales.

Chapter One: As successful salespeople, we are great storytellers who built our careers on trust

Chapter Two: But our clients needs have evolved, and they are paralysed by FOMU

Chapter Three: We can create mutually rewarding partnerships

Chapter Four: By sharing our knowledge and insights, focusing on client outcomes

Chapter Five: And deeply understanding our clients’ stories

Chapter Six: We will put ourselves in our clients’ shoes, generate deep sales and exceed our targets

What’s your story – how can we help you inspire your organisation with it?

Download the free ebook: Nine drivers to accelerate your strategy

Posted on 24th July 202324th July 2023 by Kirsty Spencer

Understand how high-performance organisations activate their people to accelerate change and overcome strategic challenges.

There’s a reason why 70% of strategic change initiatives fail to realise their original objectives. It’s the human side of strategy and change that time and again is the determining factor.

Working with organisations to activate their people to deliver significant change strategies over the last 20 years, we’ve identified the nine key drivers which accelerate activation, engage colleagues in strategic challenges and unlock discretionary effort and ingenuity.

These range from overcoming the fear, confusion and apathy often associated with change, through a clear and compelling narrative, to ensuring leaders are aligned and championing the strategy, avoiding conflicting points of view and diversion of focus and effort. All nine are explored in this ebook.

How this ebook will help:

Clear, summarised and easily digestible list of the nine factors that need to be in place for strategy to be effectively activated
Outlines the common situations when strategy activation is critical
Provides a framework that can be used to assess and establish what you need to prioritise to activate your people in the journey you are on

Complete the short form to immediately download your copy

Watch on-demand: Two inspirational days of masterclasses and discussion

Posted on 18th April 202331st May 2023 by Kirsty Spencer

To celebrate 20 years pioneering the transformative power of storytelling to execute strategy, accelerate change and unlock extraordinary performance, we hosted a series of bite-sized masterclasses from master storytellers sharing the art and science of storytelling – these are now available to watch on demand.

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Agenda

View full session and speaker details here

1pm BST – Opening keynote: organisations of the future will be story-driven
2pm BST – Storytelling: the secret weapon for change
3pm BST – Immersive experience: how to make your people the hero of your story
4pm BST – The nine drivers to accelerate the activation of your strategy
5pm BST – A strategic writer’s perspective – how to develop and activate your organisation’s story

View full session and speaker details here

1pm BST – How creative concepts have the power to activate entire organisations
2pm BST – Creating speeches that move mountains
3pm BST – Increase your leadership influence and impact through storytelling
4pm BST – Activating your organisation using story-driven nudge behaviours
5pm BST – Closing reflection: stories that shape the 21st Century

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Why activating your people is critical for successful M&A

Posted on 14th March 202314th March 2023 by Flora Clarke

Organisations pursue mergers or acquisitions for a variety of reasons: entry into new markets, plays for innovation or new talent, and customer-base expansion to name a few. In the current turbulent environment, we see that many deals are focused on productivity rather than pure financial objectives. With that core objective in mind, the ability to rapidly activate the optimisation strategy is critical to M&A value creation.

Whatever their nature, our research with Mergermarket confirms that mergers and acquisitions are notoriously difficult to execute effectively. One of the common reasons for failure is that leaders underestimate the importance of – and focus too little on — the people and culture factors in the equation. This is even more heightened when the purpose is to achieve operating synergies, which can be put at risk through underperformance and talent attrition because employees are unclear on the role they play, fearful of change and in turn become demotivated, quietly quit or loudly leave.

Featuring insights from senior M&A executives at major global blue chips around the world, our eBook shares findings gathered through a survey of 100 senior executives.

Featuring:

Why people and culture matter in M&A, and what happens when they are neglected
How to build cultural alignment and engagement
Why resetting the narrative is key and insight into the story-driven methodology The Storytellers has successfully employed to activate employees in post-merger integration strategies

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How storytelling will re-energise your EVP

Posted on 9th May 202213th May 2022 by Hannah Moyo

The dimensions of work have changed rapidly in recent years, with many factors, including digital transformation, hybrid working and ‘The Great Resignation,’ leading to a renewed strategic focus on retention and recruitment within organisations worldwide. As a result, attention has turned towards the platform on which organisations can build their employer brand and experience – the Employee Value proposition (EVP).

93 per cent of the organisations we are currently engaging with are revisiting their EVP. What we’re seeing is an EVP evolution. To create a standout EVP, a comprehensive list of core components will no longer cut it. If you want to attract the best people, you must also emotionally connect them to your business. And even then, if this proposition doesn’t measure up to the reality of your employer brand, great people – those with the talent and skillsets you don’t want to lose – will quickly become disillusioned and their heads turned elsewhere.

With experience delivering change and transformation programmes for over 200 large and complex organisations, we believe storytelling can play a critical part in re-energising your EVP to elevate your employer brand and experience.

Featuring insights from members of The Storytellers team, this eBook explores how storytelling can be harnessed to re-energise your EVP and ensure that the promise you make to your people is grounded in reality.

Download the eBook to explore:

Why your leadership team should be focusing on the effectiveness of your organisation’s EVP
How narrative can be used to help align and elevate your proposition
How stories can be harnessed to build belief in your EVP

Tackling employee disengagement with a compelling narrative

Posted on 13th January 20224th February 2022 by Robert Tennant

Workplace satisfaction, or lack of it, has always been a common topic of conversation within organisations around the world – so how does the story you tell as an organisation impact this?

Last year, workforce wellbeing reached a tipping point, with countless studies dubbing an influx of unhappy employees as the perpetrator of what fast became known as ‘The Great Resignation‘ of 2021.

The reasons behind this growing wave of unhappiness cannot be attributed to one factor alone, as an international study by Firstup has shown. Drawing on the experiences of over 23,000 employees from a vast range of organisations globally, it revealed that just 16 per cent felt that their employer need make no changes to improve their employee experience, and a mere 12 per cent felt that their organisation had sufficient boundaries in place to safeguard their work-life balance.

Perhaps most striking of all, over half of employees admitted that they did not feel valued in their role or understood how their role contributes to their organisation’s objectives. This was a point I was keen to focus on when invited by Firstup to take part in a panel discussion held to explore the reasons behind this research in more depth. For me, the statistic highlights why it’s so vital that leadership teams look very carefully at the way they are engaging their people at this time – especially those exploring and implementing new ways of working in this period of pandemic recovery.

In our experience of supporting large and complex organisations through change, businesses struggle to evolve when their people are no longer aligned behind a common purpose, identity, goal and mission – yet this can be overcome with a strong, compelling narrative.

The power of true alignment

Leadership teams need to consider, both collectively and as individuals, how aligned they really are around every single element of the journey they are leading the business on.

As a business leader, ask yourself these two key questions:

Are you inspiring your people about the journey the organisation is on?
As a leadership team are you collectively and individually role-modelling critical behaviours within your organisation?

Compelling context

Having a sense of alignment allows leaders to be influential, visible and really bring their change journey to life in a compelling, human way for all employees. In times of uncertainty and change, humans crave compelling context, transparency and something we can tether ourselves to – all things an aligned narrative supports.

True connection

Once the narrative is in place, it allows everyone within an organisation from boardroom to shop floor to begin to make both a rational and emotional connection to the change journey they are on. From purpose to strategy to behaviours (and everything in between), it enables individuals to ask themselves and understand ‘what’s my role?’ And, ‘why am I valued in moving this journey forward?’

It also allows leaders to build ownership of the strategy to unlock engagement. When everyone, not just the c-suite, understands their role within the bigger picture of their organisation, and feels they can influence what happens next, this enables pace, agility, performance, and opportunity – all the things executive teams crave. It takes bravery for the executive team to share responsibly in this way, but middle managers too can play a crucial role in keeping the momentum by ensuring individuals continue to feel empowered and receive individual recognition for their work.

Despite some stark headlines emerging from this research, there are grounds for optimism and opportunity. Although workplace dissatisfaction appears rife, what leaders should be focusing on is that so too are ideas about how to improve employee experience – if your organisation has a narrative to harness them.

Future-proofing your organisation in 2022

Posted on 29th December 20213rd March 2022 by Chris Spencer

How leaders will grow resilience and relevancy through storytelling

Every day, we see firsthand the complex challenges that impact how people perform, and the opportunities leaders must seize to ensure their organisation remains relevant and resilient for years to come.

In our experience, to ensure your business can adapt to any number of potential new scenarios, your people must be able to quickly make sense of the situation they face and feel empowered to take the right course of action to resolve it.

In today’s non-linear world, rigid long-term plans can prove a burden or soon become irrelevant. Therefore, a strong compelling narrative will ensure everyone in your organisation understands their role and the purpose of what they do – even if the business goal or strategy has to quickly shift. This narrative can help you to establish the right culture to combat the aforementioned brittleness, as well as encouraging innovation and creativity so that your organisation can remain agile and maintain competitive advantage. It can also be used to help leaders build connection and belonging to help people to overcome their anxieties.

Featuring insights from members of The Storytellers team, our eBook on future-proofing your organisation considers how leaders can unleash the power of their organisation’s story to create belief and shift mindsets in the face of the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Explore how to:

Accelerate your ESG strategy
Embed hybrid working
Elevate your EVP
Sustain digital transformation
Lead with empathy

Complete the short form to immediately download your copy