Lead with a Story: EMPOWER others [ARR]

And finally, EMPOWER others. Even if your team is inspired, they can’t actually execute if they aren’t empowered. To effectively empower:

·         Delegate authority and give permission

·         Encourage innovation and creativity

·         Sales is everyone’s job

·         Earn respect on day one and

·         Recast your audience into your story

Some final key takeaways….

In business, as in life, sometimes you need to ignore what you’ve been taught and follow your instincts. Permission stories give people the freedom to follow their instincts. They let people know it’s okay to trust their own judgment.

EMPOWER others

Innovators require time and space to play with ideas. A boss who thinks she’s keeping the staff focused might be squelching the creativity of the entire team.

If your sales presentation is in the trash can (literally – put there by the client), you’d better have a good story. And sales presentations have a way of ending up in the trash can. A story will stick with the buyer for longer. (This is an excellent analogy for a resume. Lead with a great story about yourself in the interview. The interviewer is more apt to remember that story than the accomplishments on your resume).

Your reputation is nothing more than the stories people tell about you. Choose what stories people tell by telling them first.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The best way to introduce yourself to a new team is with a story - your story. Three kinds of stories will help you earn respect on the first day:

a. I’m not who you think I am stories fend off whatever preconceived notion your new team has about you.

b. A little about me stories let your new group know you personally. Even a short story will put you in the 70 percent of trustworthy people your new team knows personally, and get you out of the untrustworthy 30 percent.

c. Why I work here stories inspire people because almost everyone wants to work for a leader with passion. Figure out why you chose this path and tell people about it.

And that’s a wrap of Lead with a Story. Next on the docket, The 2 Hour Job Search by Steve Dalton.