In his best-selling book, Squirrel Inc., former World Bank executive and master storyteller Stephen Denning used a tale to show why storytelling is a critical skill for leaders. Now, in this hands-on guide, Denning explains how you can learn to tell the right story at the right time. Whoever you are in the organization CEO, middle management, or someone on the front lines you can lead by using stories to effect change. Filled with myriad examples, A Leader s Guide to Storytelling shows how storytelling is one of the few available ways to handle the principal and most difficult challenges of leadership: sparking action, getting people to work together, and leading people into the future. The right kind of story at the right time, can make an organization stunningly vulnerable to a new idea.

In his best-selling book, Squirrel Inc., former World Bank executive and master storyteller Stephen Denning used a tale to show why storytelling is a critical skill for leaders. Now, in this hands-on guide, Denning explains how you can learn to tell the right story at the right time. Whoever you are in the organization CEO, middle management, or someone on the front lines you can lead by using stories to effect change. Filled with myriad examples, A Leader's Guide to Storytelling shows how storytelling is one of the few available ways to handle the principal and most difficult challenges of leadership: sparking action, getting people to work together, and leading people into the future. The right kind of story at the right time, can make an organization "stunningly vulnerable" to a new idea.

Introduction.Part One: The Role of Story in Organizations.1. Telling the Right Story: Choosing the Right Story for theLeadership Challenge at Hand.2. Telling the Story Right: Four Key Elements of StorytellingPerformance.Part Two: Eight Narrative Patterns.3. Motivate Others to Action: Using Narrative to Ignite Actionand Implement New Ideas.4. Build Trust in You: Using Narrative to Communicate Who YouAre.5. Build Trust in Your Company: Using Narrative to Build YourBrand.6. Transmit Your Values: Using Narrative to InstillOrganizational Values.7. Get Others Working Together: Using Narrative to Get ThingsDone Collaboratively.8. Share Knowledge: Using Narrative to Transmit Knowledge andUnderstanding.9. Tame the Grapevine: Using Narrative to Neutralize Gossip andRumor.10. Create and Share Your Vision: Using Narrative to Lead Peopleinto the Future.Part Three: Putting It All Together.11. Solve the Paradox of Innovation: Using Narrative toTransform Your Organization.12. A Different Kind of Leader: Using Narrative to Become anInteractive Leader.Notes.Bibliography.Acknowledgments.About the Author.Write to the Author.Index.