Leading with Noble Purpose

Chapter 15Why Your Backstory Matters

The best stories are often true

The narrative of human life is most beautiful when told truthfully and without boundaries.

—Shonda Rhimes, creator and showrunner, Grey's Anatomy and Scandal

Have you ever listened to a boring financial presentation?

Not to be dismissive of entire professions, but some groups have a reputation for being less than stellar storytellers. Full disclosure, my husband is a former finance guy.

If you find yourself on the giving or receiving end of a long, boring exposition, it's probably because the conversation focused on the front story instead of the backstory. To illustrate the importance of a compelling backstory, let's meet Milt, a financial planner. Like many personal finance experts, Milt gives free seminars to drum up business.

Milt has fairly decent attendance for his seminars. People show up, listen to Milt's advice, thank him, and leave. Milt offers a free personal assessment at the end, but very few people take him up on it. Milt needed more business, so he reached out to positioning expert Mark Levy to help him improve his presentation.

Levy asked Milt, “Why did you choose to become a financial planner?” Milt said, “When I was very young my parents passed away, and I went to live with my grandparents. They were great people, and I loved them dearly. They both worked at blue-collar jobs for the gas company, but they had always dreamed of owning their own business. One day, my grandmother saw an ad in ...