Shawn and Mark consider the role of parables in business storytelling, sharing an example which highlights the need to tackle issues at their source. We’re changing things up this week, with Shawn sharing a parable instead of a story. The parable features in Dan Heath’s upcoming book, Upstream, and suggests we should tackle issues at […]

A new type of speaker is emerging: part personal adviser, part comedian. I have two examples in mind. One is a researcher who spent 20 years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. The other is a comedian who gained his stand-up chops in the comedy clubs of New York. The researcher starts with human insights […]

As 2020 begins, many leaders will be confidently presenting new strategies and most people will be wearily dismissing them. There’s a story behind this common disconnect. To download a PDF version of this article, click here. To watch our short video series where Paul shares insights from this article, click here. Mind over what matters […]

Are you looking to add business storytelling to your portfolio of training programs? Do you share our desire to bring humanity back to large corporations? We want to expand our partner network in Europe to coincide with the launch of our new office in the UK that will support you to find and deliver excellent […]

Sheenagh and I watched the Star Wars-based TV show The Mandalorian recently. When we watched the first episode and got our first glimpse of Baby Yoda, there was an audible ‘aawwww’ from both of us. Baby Yoda is so damn cute. Since then, Baby Yoda has become an internet phenomenon, and the little fella is popping […]

You can’t find out what is really happening in your business from behind your desk. In this episode, Andy Billings shares one leader’s technique for getting out within his company. Happy New Year! Anecdotally Speaking is back for 2020. To kick off the year, Andy Billings joins Shawn and Mark on the podcast. Andy, Vice […]

I’ve been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear over the summer, and while many of the ideas feel familiar from reading The Power of Habit by James Duhigg, it’s a great reminder of the practical things you can do to create new habits and jettison ones that are not working for you. As I was reading […]

In our final episode for 2019, John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Inc., shares five stories that illustrate the importance of insight and encourage us to think differently. 2019 is drawing to a close. But before we close the office for the holiday period, we have another Anecdotally Speaking Special Edition to share with you!  Some weeks […]

In our second to last episode for 2019, we share a story that illustrates the importance of diversity of thought and suggests we shouldn’t work in silos. This week, we’re sharing a story that we often use in our workshops. The story follows Rob McEwen during his time working as CEO at Goldcorp Inc. Rob […]

The most successful podcasts feature stories, but podcast stories often contain more details and are longer than what you would tell orally at work to make a business point. In this post, I’m going to show you how to adapt a podcast story so you can tell it at work to make a point and […]