The Leader's Role In Creating Stories For Their Team And Organization

I'm going through a certification right now, and there was something that really stuck out to me.

"Our brains evolved to make stories and look for patterns.

When we find no coherence, we are distressed. This is especially true in a world that is chaotic and uncertain."

It is really interesting how this idea relates to an article that I wrote recently about how the loss of Myths has made Leadership more difficult.

In it I talked about how people are looking at Leaders to become "replacements" for Myths, turning them either into the "Heroes" of our lives, or the "Villains" of our lives.

Why?

Well because of this quote above.

The Science

Our brains LOVE stories!

They help us understand life, existence, the good and the bad that happen all around us.

When we don't have "stories", we have a need to "create" stories from what we see around us.

Without the stories, we become Dis-Stressed in the uncertain and chaotic world we live in!

When in states of Dis-Stress, EVERYTHING in our lives becomes harder.

We can't think clearly, our ability to solve problems decreases, we are losing energy (Mg-ATP) at faster rates making options more limited, and we lose control of our emotions more easily.

Quite literally, everything becomes stacked against us.

At this, our focus becomes survival, and we lose the ability to understand others, we lose empathy.

This becomes problematic for Leaders because when people are in survival mode, they tend to blame their problems on whatever the biggest target is.

Without a Story created and being told, the Leaders become the targets of others' problems quickly and ruthlessly.

This has a tendency to cause Leaders MORE Dis-Stress.

As I've said, ALL Stress adds together.

As the Leader though, your Dis-Stress can literally be passed onto others, via Neurocardiological functions.

Then your Focus becomes how your team seems to be set against you, and they are becoming more stressed which turns them against you more.

This leads to resentment on all sides.

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy ensues - You DO become the "villain" of their stories.

However, it doesn't have to be this way.

How Leaders Change The Story In Their Favor

There are a number of things Leaders can do to change this "Fate" from occurring.

➼ Craft The Story

If your goal is to avoid the above scenario, you have to actively create the story.

In it, you have to make yourself a Hero, and the organization as a whole a Heroic entity.

You have to talk about how what is being done will benefit others.

Better yet, it will work better if you can describe how it benefits the world.

If you don't actively write the story, others will do it for you.

The more "hands-off" you are in creating the story, the more "hands-on" others will become.

The larger your organization grows, the faster this will happen and the more people will attempt to write their own versions of the story.

If you are an extremely large organization, you will need an actual team dedicated to telling the story.

➼ Live As A Hero

However, it is NEVER enough to just "tell" a story.

You need to LIVE the story.

Do you know who tells stories that they don't actively live, in an effort to get others to do what they want?

Villains

So, become the Hero!

To do this, you need to live as an Exemplar.

EVERY action you do needs to live in alignment with whatever values and goals and stories that you tell.

In this way, your actions PROVE that you are a Hero.

Will you do this perfectly?

Absolutely not, which is where the next part is important!

Whenever you fall short, Admit It!

Let people know how you thought things were working, and how you discovered (as a Hero) that it wasn't true!

Then tell them how you plan to Rise Up (like a Hero) from this failure!

Everyone will fall at some point, but the difference is that Heroes rise back toward the benefit of others, while villains fall and make things worse for others.

➼ Understand Your Roles

Another important aspect to understand is that YOU are not "Always" the Hero!

It is important to help OTHERS be Heroes as well!

This is another important part of being a Leader.

Sometimes your role is to be a "Wise Mentor" figure, teaching and helping other Heroes rise up.

Other times, you are the person who gives "Tools" to the Heroes which allow them to accomplish their Heroic missions.

Then sometimes you are just the person who recognizes the accomplishments of Heroes to tell the whole "Town" (aka the Team or Organization).

You will have to adapt which roles you are playing throughout your career.

➼ Shape Your Team's Story

This ties into the previous point - as a Leader, you can help craft the stories of others!

Of course, your goal here is to help them FEEL like they too are Heroes!

When you help them craft their stories, and align them with your story, you do a lot of great things for them!

You'll lower their stresses, as they now have a story to look to.

You change their pattern recognition system to look for the story you are co-creating with them (as opposed to a story where you are the villain).

You help them feel purpose in their lives and their work, which will then act as fuel.

When you combine these things, Flow States become more easily accessed.

Get enough people to get to Flow States, and you can Unlock Group Flow!

➼ Give Them A Larger Than Life Villain

This is a secret key to success.

If you give others a small villain, a few things can occur.

One could be that you quickly "overthrow" that villain - like fighting against a specific competitor and beating them.

When you win, the "story" is now complete, and there's nothing to do.

Another problem is that the "small villain" may seem... insignificant.

"Why should we fight "that" small of a villain?"

"It's a waste of time and energy, isn't it?"

Your most "Heroic" personnel will want a larger challenge, and go seeking a "Bigger Story" somewhere else.

So instead, you need to give them a villain that will satisfy them - ideally forever.

The villain needs to be so big, that the fight against that villain may take years, decades, or even lifetimes to overcome (if it's possible at all!).

When you face a villain that large, people can't help but want to "fight" them.

When the odds are against the team, the team bonds faster.

It becomes nearly impossible to "give up" on the fight, the consequences become too dire.

When there is a failure on the team, it doesn't matter because there is a "need" to succeed.

This failure "needs" to be a stumbling block and it CAN'T put everyone out of the fight.

The Villain NEEDS to be defeated.

Final Takeaway

Craft the story -

Give them their Villain.

Live As A Hero.

Know Your Roles.

Help Others Be Heroes In The Story.

Become A Legendary Leader!