133 – Potter spells initiative

Don’t wait for someone to come along and solve your problems—step up and make things happen. Listen to hear how a clever Storytelling for Leaders participant used an anecdote from a popular franchise to connect and build rapport. 

We like to say that there are three ‘buckets’ of stories: your stories, other people’s stories, and everything else—books, movies… You name it. You can pull a story from any of these buckets and use it to make a business point. 

This week, Mark shares a story that may surprise you. It’s from the third bucket of stories and a very well-known book and movie series, Harry Potter. Specifically, he shares an anecdote from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. You can watch a relevant 2-minute snippet of the movie here

Shawn mentions a previous episode (037 – Fortran reveals Hidden Figures) where Mark shared a story from the movie Hidden Figures. You can listen to it here

The pair also announce that we have just published the dates for our first public Storytelling for Leaders workshops of 2022. You can find more information and register via our events page

For your storybank

Tags: action, attitude, behaviour change, behaviours, character, connection story, initiative

This story starts at 01:51

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and his uncle, Sirius Black, find themselves in a life-threatening situation. Sirius is badly injured, and dementors are gradually sucking the life out of him and Harry at the edge of a lake. 

Harry is aware of what’s happening but unable to do anything. As he’s about to pass out, he sees a bright light appear on the far side of the lake. Someone has cast a spell, and it scatters the dementors, saving the pair.

A little while later, the story reveals that Harry casts the spell that saves him and Sirius. 

Harry and his friend, Hermione, have gone back in time. They watch Harry and Sirius, who is lying on the ground, across the lake. Hermione pleads with Harry, “You have to do something!” 

“It’s okay,” he tells her, “Somebody is going to come and save us.” 

But nobody comes, and it’s getting more and more critical. Hermione urges him again to do something. But Harry is certain someone is going to come… Until he isn’t. 

Harry realises he’s about to die, and it’s him that has to do something. He steps forward and casts a powerful petronas spell, saving both his and Sirius’ lives.

About  Anecdote International

Anecdote International is a global training and consulting company, specialising in utilising storytelling to bring humanity back to the workforce. Anecdote is now unique in having a global network of over 60 partners in 28 countries, with their learning programs translated into 11 languages, and customers who incorporate these programs into their leadership and sales enablement activities.

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