Tags: safety, moments, attention-grabbing Our story this week is a short one, but it has an impact. As you will see if you tell a story in an unexpected way, and the topic is possible death or injury, you will immediately generate interest from your audience. We also talk about keeping track of the movies […]

A lot has been written recently about how Jeff Bezos and his executives run their meetings. Amazon has made it very public that their senior team (the S Team) has banned PowerPoint, and that each meeting starts with a six-page narrative memo which the executives read and absorb for up to 30 minutes before the […]

Tags: apocryphal stories, influence stories The web is full of stories of dubious origins, which is the very definition of apocryphal, yet many can be used to make a business point as long as you make clear that the story is most likely false. We provide some examples of apocryphal stories and we dig into […]

Tags: brand storytelling, competitors, collaboration In this episode of Anecdotally Speaking, we explain what it is that Mark and I do for work, why some stories work for some audiences and not for others, and the difference between the typical ‘brand stories’ we see and the one we share today. Lots of companies have ‘brand […]

Storytelling is increasingly being sought-after as a tool to get ahead. Leaders from all over the world are reaching out to us to improve their storytelling skills to stand out and have their messages heard. It’s no different in San Francisco and is probably even more true because of the number of leading companies based […]

An organisation’s value is nothing more than a slogan unless it impacts employees’ behaviours. In this episode, we visit a Harley Davidson factory and see their company values in action. As I write this post I’m sitting on the TransAlpine Railway about to head off from Christchurch across the Alps in the south island of New […]

We recently began an Anecdote book club for the office. For our first book, we read The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact. The authors, Chip and Dan Heath, wanted to explain what a moment is and how you can purposefully create these moments to have more impact on things like a […]

Tags: leadership, safety, speaking up, story-triggering, moments They say what a leader walks past without saying anything becomes the norm. So sometimes it really helps to see what your people will let slide or who will speak up. Today’s story should give you an idea for a little experiment you can do as a leader […]

Tags: change, leadership, culture, focussing on the positive One of the most important stories a leader can tell is one that provides insight on how to tackle problems in new ways. I call them intervention stories and some of the very best ones are from outside the business world. In fact, if you look back […]

Today’s story illustrates the strong link between great work and what can been seen, heard, and felt in the workplace. You can tell this story to help your team understand how top performers appear and get a conversation going about what your workplace looks and feels like. It’s also a great model for an excursion […]