You Need to Know How to Tell Your Story to Tell Your Organization’s Story
One podcast is theory - the other practice
When I think about my role as a podcast host – especially when we have guest interviews and panel discussions – I approach the process like a qualitative researcher.
We prepare a semi-structured interview to make sure our line of inquiry is focused, but also leave room to pursue and explore ideas that may pop up. Interestingly, the editing process becomes a type of coding experience because you’re forced to listen closely to the guests to identify themes and trends – and often you hear things you didn’t pick up when recording the podcast.
I’m sure somebody is writing a book on qualitative research and podcasting, but I’ll leave that to someone else – just credit me if you steal the idea from this Substack post.
I share this because one theme that clearly emerged from two of our recent episodes is the importance of storytelling in leadership. This was surprising because I would not have expected an interview with UGG founder Brian Smith about the trails and tribulations of entrepreneurship to compliment a philosophical panel discussion about the dangers and benefits of storytelling in the workplace.
This season we have started having panel discussions with former guests to diversify the format of the show and bring folks we think will produce an interesting conversation together. And we were not disappointed with our first panel conversation with leadership consultants Jesan Sorrells and Hana Gala.
My co-host Jodah Jensen and I found ourselves – and our interview plans – swept away by our guests’ response to our opening question – “What are the most dangerous stories we are telling ourselves?”
This question launched us into a wide-ranging discussion about the importance of stories in helping us understand our reality, the dangers of loss of meaning due to the atomization of society, and how both leaders and followers have a vital role in shaping the stories that will move our organizations forward. And there was plenty of Sartre, Camus, Dostoevsky, Heinlein, and Shakespeare peppered throughout to season the episode with some culture.
Then, in the following episode, Jodah and I had the honor of interviewing Brian Smith, the founder of UGG boots. And his episode turned out to be a concrete illustration of the ideas that were espoused by Jesan and Hana about the vital connection between storytelling and leadership.
Brian is a born entrepreneur and storyteller who knows how to weave a tale full of useful insights about building a business – many cleverly wrapped in metaphors that speak to universal leadership principles. And it’s all delivered in a down to earth Australian dialect full of humility and humor.
As Brian recounts on the podcast and in his book The Birth of a Brand, he overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to build his UGG business – house fires, supply chain disasters, pessimism from buyers, perpetual financing issues, and sometimes his own short comings.
But Brian learned along the way and shared some of his most important lessons with us success as:
· A new business is like an infant that you must nurture before its ready to move forward independently, so you really need to nurture it if it’s going to make it to its teenage years.
· You need to overcome the objections of potential customers to close the sale – and in the case of UGG boots this means persuading skeptical buyers to try on a sheepskin boot without socks – oh, the feeling.
· Ignorance is an entrepreneur’s – and a leader’s – most valuable asset because no entrepreneur might ever get started if they knew the challenges and surprises that lay ahead of them.
So, in a surprisingly unexpected way, both episodes complement one another. Dangerous Leadership Stories with Jesan Sorrells and Hana Gala culminates with the idea that leaders really need to be able to understand and tell their own stories before they can help the people they are leading tell the organization’s story.
And Brian Smith’s episode recounting his story of founding the UGG brand demonstrates this central theme. He not only tells his story of sustained resilience despite all the obstacles emerged, but also the story of a business that has become a household name thanks to his vision and leadership.
So, give these two episodes a listen and share your thoughts on leadership and storytelling in the comments section.
You can also listen to the Sense & Signal podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!