Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
    The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
    The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
    Ebook67 pages55 minutes

    The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell

    By Paul Smith

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    NOW AN OWL (Outstanding Work of Literature) Leadership Award Winner!

    Every great leader is a great storyteller.

    As a manager, CEO, or team leader, how can you innovatively engage your employees so that they understand where your organization came from, where it's going, and how you're going to get there? How can you connect with your customers in a way that makes them believe in your company as passionately as you do?

    Paul Smith is one of the world's leading experts in business storytelling. He teaches people how to be more effective leaders by communicating their company's important mission, inspiring creativity, and earning the trust of valued stakeholders.

    The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell explores the journey behind success, and breaks down not just the importance of your company's story but how to craft compelling ones of your own.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateAug 1, 2019
    ISBN9781728223179
    The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
    Author

    Paul Smith

    PAUL SMITH is a dedicated father of two and an expert trainer in leadership and storytelling techniques. As the author of the popular Lead with a Story, he has seen his work featured in The Wall Street Journal, Time, Forbes, The Washington Post, Success, and Investor's Business Daily, among others.

    Read more from Paul Smith

    Related to The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell

    Related ebooks

    Management For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell

    5/5

    3 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Stories are interesting and exciting
      . Thnks for thecompilation. Inspiring

    Book preview

    The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell - Paul Smith

    Copyright © 2019 by Paul Smith

    Cover and internal design © 2019 by Sourcebooks

    Cover design by Ploy Siripant

    Sourcebooks, the colophon, and Simple Truths are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks.

    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.

    This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

    All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

    Published by Simple Truths, an imprint of Sourcebooks

    P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

    (630) 961-3900

    sourcebooks.com

    To my grandfather, Floyd Ping Smith (1901–1995)

    A leader in the American dairy industry whose career spanned eight decades and who always had a great story

    Contents

    Front Cover

    Title Page

    Copyright

    Introduction

    Story 1

    Story 2

    Story 3

    Story 4

    Story 5

    Story 6

    Story 7

    Story 8

    Story 9

    Story 10

    Conclusion

    About the Author

    Appendix

    Notes

    Back Cover

    Introduction

    Every great leader is a great storyteller.i And the first and most important part of being a great storyteller is knowing what stories to tell.

    Ironically, journalists and publishers are typically interested in producing content on how to craft leadership stories: the structure of the story, emotional elements, the right level of detail, how long they should be, etc. But when I work with executives—actual leaders working in organizations—those aren’t the first questions they ask. The first question they typically ask is "What stories do I need to tell?"

    The reason I side with the executives on what’s of foremost importance is that if you tell the right story but butcher the delivery, your audience will forgive you. You’re not a novelist or a professional speaker. You’re a leader.

    But if you tell your people a boring, irrelevant story, even if you deliver it in a way that would make a Shakespearean actor proud, your audience will never forgive you for wasting their time.

    What stories you tell is more important than how you tell them.

    Will you be more effective as a leader if you learn how to craft more compelling stories? Of course. And I spend most of my professional time teaching leaders how to do exactly that. But the best leaders start by choosing the right stories to tell.

    So, my purpose in writing this book is to give leaders of any size or type of organization ten of the most important stories they need to tell, plus a running start at how to find their own.

    But before we get to the stories, let me address three brief topics about the list.

    First, notice that the title of this book isn’t The 10 Speeches Great Leaders Make, or 10 Presentations Great Leaders Give, or even 10 Ideas Great Leaders Share. It’s The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell.

    And by story

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1