Amplify Your Influence

9The Art and Science of Storytelling

“Potential stories are everywhere if we take the time to listen and look for them.”

—René Rodriguez

The day was August 14, 2003. I was in New York City on the 18th floor of the Liz Claiborne Building giving a presentation to the vice presidents of the company's apparel division.

This was a big day for me. Liz Claiborne was a new, high-profile client outside of my typical manufacturing client base, and all the decision makers were in the room. Everything was going perfectly; my stories, my timing, and my tie-downs were all on point. I was even dressed head to toe in Liz Claiborne clothing that I had purchased the night before just so I could tell the story.

It was three hours and 45 minutes into my four-hour presentation when suddenly the lights got very bright. It reminded me of what had happened when a fuse had blown out at my house. Then the power went out!

A power outage usually isn't a big deal. But to put this outage in context, it happened less than two years after the tragedies of 9/11. We were in Manhattan not far from the site of the World Trade Center towers that had collapsed. This was long before the United States had tracked down the mastermind of the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden.

Two of the Liz Claiborne vice presidents in my audience started to cry, and panic set in. The president then stood up and left the room to check out what had happened. He returned about three minutes later and said the power was out ...