The Leader's Voice

Story Types

Nick Morgan has an article in a current issue of Forbes, in which he guarantees success by using one of five classic story forms. Check out his thoughts in the longer article.

I've followed his thoughts and career since 2001 and will have to say I appreciate his efforts generally. But I tend to believe he sells the number of story themes short. Limiting a list to five (literally a "handful") of exemplars does make them easier to remember, but there are many more story forms to consider than he has listed.

Where I do agree is that a well told story illuminates the facts you are presenting and can be the emotional conveyance for how you feel about the facts. Stories can explain, reveal, illustrate, and simplify our concepts. Heck, even a well done case study is simply another kind of story.

Let me know what you think of Morgan's thoughts.

Point of View

This wonderful little video demonstrates visually how great communicators can reorient a person's point of view.

(Love the music).

Leadership and Starting a Movement

Take a look at the video below from the TED talk series. It's only about three minutes long and the speaker uses the video to make several substantial claims about creating a movement and the nature of leadership.

After viewing, please consider these questions and post some responses. I would love to read some posts reflecting your thoughts about:

• To what degree does this video clearly show leadership behavior?
• In what ways, if any, is the speaker stretching the video dynamics to make his point?
• To what degree do you feel this shows the "emergent" nature of leadership?

In a later post I will highlight some of my thoughts and respond to the ideas and questions you raise.