Stories for Work

Chapter 8 Stories that work for values and vision

With more leaders now embracing the philosophy of authentic and values-based leadership, it has become more important to find ways of encouraging others — both internal and external to your organisation — to understand and connect with not only your personal brand and values (which we look at in chapter 9), but also your company’s vision and values.

The 2011 Harvard Business Review article ‘The business of communicating values’ stated,

“ If a company doesn’t take the time and effort to communicate its values in a meaningful way, then it’s like the old tree-falling-in-the-forest cliché: It makes a big splash, but no one is around to appreciate its impact.

Vision and values are worthless unless they are understood by everyone in the workplace and evident within your organisational culture. They cannot be an afterthought; instead, they should drive decisions and behaviours across the business. The very essence of ‘values’ is that they must connect with everyone on a personal level.

Bringing your company’s values to life, so that they are more than mere words on a website, poster or coffee mug, is an ongoing challenge. The good news is that storytelling helps because, like values, the very essence of storytelling is to connect, engage and inspire on a personal level.

Where’s the value?

In my work, I have found that when leaders take the time to identify what their company values mean to them, on both a professional and a personal ...