Why tell a story?
FIRST — It makes it possible for others to know more about you as a person so they can learn more about you as a leader.
SECOND — It enables others to benefit from the key learnings and insights you have discovered from your personal experiences to enlighten, guide, and inspire. In essence, it is to move people to action.
But I am not a leader, or at least I don’t have a leadership role.
You are a leader, regardless of the role you hold at work, home, or at school. You have a story to share.
We have watched a lot of TED talks during this class because everyone on the TED stage is a leader in some way. It is helpful to pull out what makes for a successful TED talk, and there is a pattern. The best speakers tell a personal story as part of their talk. The personal story gets people interested because we are all storytellers who rely on stories for instructions on how to be in the world. Our societies rely on the telling of stories to maintain a particular culture. Indeed, the stories that are told often change as different events happen so that we will know how to respond. As controlling as this sounds, and as it is, what if we told our stories? What if we helped the culture be better by sharing? What if we could inspire someone to step out of the life that others had decided for them into a life of their own choosing? What if we could help someone else overcome what we have worked so hard to leave behind?
The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice in writing and telling your leadership story from your own life.
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