“Over the years I have become convinced that we learn best—and change—from hearing stories that strike a chord within us… Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.” – John Kotter, Harvard Business School Professor, and author of Leading Change
Sharing your leadership story publicly is not about blowing your own horn or being boastful, nor is it about fantasizing or spreading untruths. Good leaders understand and embrace the opportunities to leverage their stories to create a clear and compelling message that energizes, inspires, and offers hope.
Jeff Gothelf, noted author, coach, consultant, and keynote speaker, in his Harvard Business Review article “Storytelling Can Make or Break Your Leadership” (Oct 2020), offers five characteristics of effective storying telling in the following link: Storytelling Can Make or Break Your Leadership (hbr.org) and a summary of which are: be audience specific; contextualize your story; humanize your story; make it action oriented; and keep it humble to show capacity for growth and development, and to build trust. I have had the opportunity to work with a number of aspiring leaders to develop and share their leadership stories, e.g., challenges in life that led to learning, individual and team achievements, a higher calling, etc.
As I reflect on my own journey and a snippet of what I’ve shared with various audiences on occasion, I hope it provides a glimpse of what motivates me, an invite to know me and how I think, and a bit of hope to others. I think about my childhood and growing up in Detroit, MI, the oldest of three siblings with a single parent mom and the first person in our family to graduate from high school. I think about surrogate parents and the challenges of attending nine schools in my K-12 experience and changing schools every year in high school (two states, MI and SC). And not to be overlooked, I think about the life lessons learned from little league and varsity sports, dreaming of playing football in college and beyond. Those dreams never materialized, but they developed a healthy competitive spirit along with purpose, something to strive for that was constructive, and built grit.
Although I did not get to play football on a college team as I dreamed of as a child, I served on one of the most prominent teams in the world as a proud member of the United States Air Force before retiring after 22-years of active-duty service and going on to become an urban public school district superintendent. I never saw a down as a player in a college stadium, however, thanks to some great coaches, mentors, and supportive role models in my journey, I did make it into the south end zone in Memorial Stadium at the University of Oklahoma to receive my doctorate in education.
Your leadership stories and life lessons can provide powerful sharing opportunities to connect with staff, members of your leadership team, aspiring leaders, and mentees. Understanding and sharing your story not only gives insights into who you are, how you think, what motivates you, and/or the hurdles you’ve overcome in life, it can also serve as an inspiration to many, including young people who need an example to lean into.