I’m pretty phobic to most of what’s said after the word leadership is used in speeches or essays. But Dave Snowden’s recent succinct effort strikes me as dead sensible. Snippet:
Not all great leaders are good communicators, fewer still are, or will ever be gifted story tellers. Ironically some of the worst leaders are only too good at telling stories
and excel at communication. What really matters is the degree of coherence and integrity that is evident in the lived life of the leader as perceived by their employees and colleagues. I have heard more integrity in a badly told but obviously genuine story than in a super slick presentation. Teaching executives to abandon powerpoint and communicate by listening first and then demonstrating empathy beats any number of story telling courses or coaching sessions.
