Storytelling and Motivation by Dr. Richard Borough

MOTIVATING OTHERS, NOT. INSPIRING OTHERS, YES

Motivating others, this you cannot do because people motivate themselves. But if you are a manager of employees, you must have motivated people on your team.

As a manager it’s your main job to turn raw talent into performance that’s aligned with your mission and the vision of where you want to go. By the way, this is the same job as that of a football coach.

But how do you make it possible for the motivation that lies fast asleep, deep in the hearts of the people you manage, to spring forth? You do that by telling a good story—an inspirational story that encourages people to saddle up and take all forms of the most appropriate action possible. For while it is true that you cannot motivate another person, you can inspire them, this you can certainly do.

Inspire well and your people will motivate themselves.

Have you read any of J. K. Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books or seen the movies? Is Harry Potter a real person? Are any of those stories true? No. But people love them anyway, don’t they. Harry Potter doesn’t exist, none of the people in the stories exist, the whole story is made up, yet we want to believe, so we buy the books and go to the movies. The story is wonderful. The story gets us to take action.

Thousands of people of all ages camped all night outside bookstores everywhere waiting to buy the final Potter book last week. 10 million copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” were sold in the first 24 hours. That’s 6,944 books per minute. And that book is 600 pages long. Very big time motivation brought on by big time inspiration.

Turns out that those who manage people most successfully, better than anyone else, do not actually talk about or demonstrate the benefits that will accrue to those who do their bidding. That’s not what they do. Instead, they tell a story. Employees demand that you do just that, they insist that you paint vivid story pictures that they want to believe. This is their chief demand of you.

Storytelling, of course, is one of the oldest, most powerful modes of communication. President Ronald Reagan was a masterful storyteller, and many other politicians have used stories to gain votes and win elections. Savvy people are now adding storytelling to their toolkits to “sell” anything from organizational goals and priorities to employees, to goods, products and services to customers.

Researchers have found that storytelling is far more convincing to an audience than rational arguments, statistics, or facts. In her book “Corporate Legends and Lore: The Power of Storytelling as a Management Tool,” Peg Neuhauser outlines the results of a study with MBA students that demonstrate the power of a story. MBA students are very much orientated by statistics. Neuhauser divided her statistically oriented students into three groups. The first group was given only statistics related to the potential success of a new winery. The second group was given statistics and a story. The third group received only the story. The story ended with: “And my father would be so proud to sip this wine.” A majority of students in the third group believed that the winery would be successful, while in the other two groups the skeptics predominated. The story, not the statistics, sold the winery.

Next time you hear someone say, “Let me tell you a story,” watch out. You may be about to support an idea, enlist in a cause, or buy something.

It’s a simple concept. A story makes a topic much more real to the audience, more so than the most rational persuasion, because it reframes the argument being put forth by the story teller in an easy-to-grasp format anyone can relate to. When it becomes necessary to influence people, a story frame is always more effective than a rational, linear argument, provided the story answers the audience’s question, “What’s in this for me?”

Great stories overcome resistance to change, to try new things, or to buy.

Managers and football coaches make taking action more palatable by telling stories that celebrate the past while simultaneously demonstrating the need for change. Stories help people understand the need to follow directions and to do things in the right way. And even failure makes a good story when it is positioned to focus on the learning experience derived from it.

Now you may not be able to inspire your employees like J. K. Rowling inspired her readers and movie goers or like Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh inspired their football players. But you can inspire your audience. And your inspirational activities can result in the sudden appearance of motivation on the part of your audience members. Then they’ll do all they can to take appropriate action that benefits both them and you too.

Like football coaches to their players, your good stories will bridge the gap between what you want people to do for you—and what, because they discover their own motivation—they will do for you.

So what exactly is a really good story? What characteristics must a story have in order to inspire and encourage the emergence and manifestation of motivation in other people?

Here’s what we know. A good story is interesting, it’s compelling and hard to ignore, it’s fascinating to some degree, it promises something people want to believe, it’s about things people can relate to their personal experiences and/or to their hopes and wishes, and it may offer hope of a better future. And truly great stories don’t appeal to logic, but they often appeal to emotions and senses.

Most of all, great stories agree with our world view. The best stories don’t teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and that makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure as it reminds them of how right they were in the first place.

Threats don’t work for long. Bribes don’t work for long either. Only a good story brings people to the place of self-motivation for the long haul and that’s what you need, long term motivation and the loyalty that comes with it.

Your story ought to lay out a vision of a desirable future, ought to talk about goals and communicate how together your team will reach them. Your story ought to educate and mobilize people to go with you into the future better place.

Want to manage your people better? Tell better stories. And tell them often. Neat huh!