29th November 2024
3 Storytelling Techniques to Foster Inclusive Leadership
To foster inclusivity, leaders should model storytelling with vulnerability to create a psychologically safe workplace. Consistently making space for stories during meetings and providing team members with storytelling frameworks encourages sharing. Storytelling supports inclusivity, team building, and understanding by connecting personal experiences with organizational goals and culture.
This article was written by Julie Kratz and published in Forbes.
Stories stick in our brains 22 times better than facts and figures. There’s a reason why we tell stories to our children at bedtime rather than reading them fact-based reports. The human brain is wired for stories. Partly due to our evolutionary survival, and also due to our emotional limbic system, humans have often used storytelling as a cornerstone of belonging and inclusion. In Karen Ebert’s TedTalk on storytelling, she said, “When you listen to a story your entire brain lights up.”
In my interview with workplace-inclusion expert Dr. Nika White, she said, “Storytelling is a way to level set and connect with our humanity. Our stories inform our decisions and how we think. In the workplace, the power of storytelling fuels inclusivity and a sense of belonging and trust.”
When a culture of psychological safety is established, storytelling deepens the level of vulnerability and gives permission to others to share their stories. White recommends leaders first model storytelling. The first step is to know why you are sharing your story. Reflect on questions like, “Am I sharing this story to help others, to build relationships or to help others feel safer? When I keep my story to myself, what are others missing?”
Start with Vulnerability
Storytelling must start with vulnerability. When leaders model storytelling, it gives others permission to do the same. Leadership needs to talk about the value of storytelling. What is the goal—to foster inclusivity and belonging, to lead to innovation or business success? Having a compelling reason for storytelling helps encourage others to share their stories.
Storytelling can also help teams excavate issues and problems more proactively. Stories force conversations that can help with the internal work of dealing with trauma and pain. White notes, “When leadership embeds storytelling in the culture, it is also important to provide scaffolding for people to manage past trauma and have self-care and collective support mechanisms to help.”
Make Space and Time for Stories in Team Building
The impact of storytelling does not happen without consistency and intentionality. Leaders must be proactive about making space and time for people to share their stories in existing team meetings, all-employee meetings or one-on-ones. White suggests, “Start by highlighting stories of inclusion and impact, sometimes anonymously or publicly to reinforce inclusive values. Open and end events with stories. Recognize storytelling with awards like better humaning together, or build incentives to share stories in newsletters and other corporate events. White also recommends providing journals for employees in which they may capture their stories.
To continue reading this article in full click here: 3 Storytelling Strategies To Lead Inclusively
