CORPORATE STORYTELLING:
Discovering Fire for the Second Time
Vol. 8, No. 1, 2008
Publisher: Evelyn Clark
evelyn@corpstory.com http://www.corpstory.com
(c) Clark & Company 2008
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“Over the years, I’ve learned that the ability to articulate your story or
that of your company is crucial in almost every phase of enterprise management.”
--Peter Guber, Entertainment Executive
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Four Truths of the Storyteller
2. Change Communication: A Balancing Act
3. Does Your Company Make Your Heart Beat?
4. Corporate Storytelling Live
5. Another Chance to Save: Scratch & Dent Sale
1. Four Truths of the Storyteller
An entertainment executive who has produced a number of top movies, such as “Rain Man”, “Batman” and “The Color of Purple”, Peter Guber says, “The stories that move and captivate people are those that are true to the teller, the audience, the moment, and the mission.” These “Four Truths of the Storyteller”, as his recent article in Harvard Business Review is titled, apply to any form of storytelling, whether for a movie or a corporate leader, as emphasized in Evelyn’s Corporate Storytelling® workshops and keynotes. To maximize the power of story, the teller needs to be authentic, the story needs to be applicable to the audience, the timing must be right, and the key message must be aligned with the teller’s (organization’s) mission.
Asserting that “An effective CEO uses an emotional narrative about the company’s mission to attract investors and partners, to set lofty goals, and to inspire employees,” Guber goes to share an interesting tale to illustrate the point that “Sometimes, a well-crafted story can even transform a seemingly hopeless situation into an unexpected triumph.”
To read the introduction of Guber’s article in HBR’s December issue, or to purchase the entire article, go to: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp;jsessionid=Y13JRXCN53NESAKRGWDSELQBKE0YIISW?ml_action=get-article&articleID=R0712C&ml_page=1&ml_subscriber=true
2.Change Communication: A Balancing Act
Even though the internal communications departments in large organizations are largely responsible for overall corporate communications, that doesn’t let company leaders off the hook. A case study about Shell is one of many featured in an in-depth report on change communications from Melcrum Communications. The report summary tells about Shell’s success with change communications, which hinged on close coordination between Internal Communications and senior leadership. Anthea Cudworth, global internal and management communications manager, says the primary role for the company’s professional communicators is to gain an understanding among the leadership on the value of communicating with employees and their role in conveying key messages, especially during times of change. The key to success, she says, is to maintain an appropriate balance between the two roles.
The full report is loaded with case studies from major corporations around the globe, and it’s available for purchase at http://www.melcrum.com/offer/dscc/08a/
3. Does Your Company Make Your Heart Beat?
As promised in the last issue, here’s a link to a video produced by Germany-based BASF—The Chemical Company as part of a series that marked the company’s 140th anniversary on April 6, 2005. Carol Sizmur, Senior Manager, Corporate Messages, discussed the project when she led a roundtable and showed another BASF story video at the European Storytelling Congress in Salzburg, Austria, last November, where Evelyn conducted the master class.
“The Heartbeat of a Company” is the title of the story project, which was beyond successful! The goal was to capture the essence of the company by relating 140 personal experience stories from the workforce of 95,000. Altogether the company has published a total of 292 stories that embody the multi-cultural, multi-faceted face of the company through the words of employees and retirees around the globe. As explained on the BASF Web site, “Individually, every one reflects a small facet of BASF's corporate personality; together they help to paint a collective portrait of BASF.”
The company also makes effective use of other online technologies, including iPod broadcasts and RSS feeds that tell the company’s story. To explore the wonderful applications of online storytelling, including a poem by Rudolf Büssecker, a security guard from Ludwigshafen in Germany who was one of the first storytellers to be published on the Web site, go to http://www.my-basf-story.basf.com/cms/basf/en/dt.jsp.
4. Corporate Storytelling Live
Evelyn launched 2008 by traveling to The Hague, Netherlands, where she led the storytelling segment of a Leadership Development Conference for Shell International. Following on the heels of her presentation at the 3rd Annual European Storytelling Congress in Austria last November, this engagement is evidence that storytelling is a hot topic among top-tier organizations.
Even more notable is the fact that nearly half of global enterprise organizations—49%, to be exact—are incorporating storytelling as part of their employee engagement programs. This figure was reported in the results of a recent survey by Melcrum Communications.
If you haven’t already maximized the power of storytelling in your organization, it’s time! Call The Corporate Storyteller now to explore how she can help everyone in your organization work more effectively toward achieving your corporate goals.
5. Another Chance to Save: Scratch & Dent Sale
Savvy readers of this e-zine have snapped up most of our slightly damaged copies of Around the Corporate Campfire, but we still have a few left. So if you’ve been meaning to buy the book, this is a good opportunity to have your own copy at 50% savings. The cover price is $19.95, and you can get one with a slightly scratched or dented cover for just $9.97 plus shipping. Simply go to http://www.corpstory.com and follow the link at the bottom of the page.
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