#100: How to Step Up Your Leadership Game With Storytelling

In order to become the best leader you can be, it's critical to give your team a call to something bigger.

The best leaders can tap into the audience’s core values and inspire action, and spark a strong purpose in the community. But what if you have difficulty forming that intimate connection with members of your team? The answer, of course, is to find your story.

Our episode this week is about using your stories to engage people in what you’re doing. Joshua Spodek can tell you firsthand that this is not rocket science. Joshua is a bestselling author, world-renowned media leadership expert, and a Ph.D. in astrophysicist who has helped both NASA and ESA put satellites into orbit. How’s that for a resume? Joshua is joining us with his new book, Leadership Step by Step, to discuss how leaders can create a new story that your team can live through, thereby amplifying your impact.

With three powerful exercises and a special freebie, you will have the tools to utilize your leadership storytelling to your highest potential.

In This Show, You’ll Learn Josh’s meaningful connection exercise Finding your authentic voice Embracing your inner monolog Key Quotes “You don’t get strong from reading about lifting weights.” – Josh Spodek “I think the reason people don't do stuff is often not because they don't see the value in it, it's that they can’t find motivation. It's easier to just keep doing what they're doing.” – Josh Spodek “A meaningful connection is not just a friendly conversation, it's also a business-to-business endeavor.” – Josh Spodek “Managers deal with behaviors, leaders deal with emotions” - Joshua Spodek “the greatest stories we tell are absolute authentic true stories well-told.” – Park Howell “to be real with it then allows you to find your own true voice and be more authentic and connect on that level.”  – Park Howell “Every great story is really around shaking your protagonist out of status quo.”  – Park Howell

 

Mentioned in this episode Joshua Spodek Joshua Spodek Twitter Leadership Step by Step Esquire NBC Forbes ABC NYU Inc Magazine European Space Agency NASA Story Marketer Of The Week - Pixar

Disney’s animation studio, Pixar, recently produced a phenomenal online tutorial for creating stories. Pixar is the studio behind critically acclaimed films such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, and their use of the story cycle and the hero’s journey is apparent in each movie.

The storytelling tutorials are available on Khan Academy, and each brilliant and engaging video is taught by one of Pixar’s own storytelling artists. Do you think this campaign was done to find the next big storyteller for Pixar Studios? That’s not the point, this series provides an inside look into the workings of world-renowned films. I think those who take the course will experience a deeper connection to the Pixar movies they watch, which I imagine will lead to greater loyalty for the brand. For that Pixar earns my story marker the week.

I think those who take the course will experience a deeper connection to the Pixar movies they watch, which I imagine will lead to greater loyalty for the brand. For that Pixar earns my story marker the week.

 

About Business of Story Podcast

The Business of Story is hosted by trusted brand story strategist and keynote speaker Park Howell and is among the top business and marketing podcasts geared toward founders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and communication leaders.

Each episode brings you the brightest content creators, advertising creatives, authors, screenwriters, makers, marketers, and brand raconteurs that show you how to make your brand story marketing stand out and achieve epic growth in your organization.