Invest in the art of storytelling to raise your return on inspiration

October 23, 2024It’s a predicament many organizations face: among the approximately 35 percent of employees who say they are considering leaving their jobs, a third cite their experiences with “uncaring and uninspiring leaders” as one of the top reasons. When leaders share a future direction that fails to factor in what matters to people, it can lower morale, fuel attrition, impede the adoption of new ways of working, and slow down strategy or change implementation.

That was the case when the CEO of an American technology firm recently introduced a new transformation to thousands of employees. At the launch, he presented the change and emphasized that it was all about “future growth.” He showed eye-catching slides of the company’s new decentralized structure, and apart from a few challenging questions from the audience, the introduction seemed to go smoothly. But a few months in, the transformation had lost momentum. People were disengaged, and benefits went unrealized. At a leadership meeting, the problem came to a head when a manager confessed that the transformation’s name had become synonymous with job cuts and doing more with less.

It was a sobering realization for the CEO, but this situation is not uncommon. Our research shows that 70 percent of transformations fail, and when leaders reflect on their biggest regrets, six of the top ten regrets relate to poor communications.¹ Although leaders tend to invest heavily in new strategies and transformations, they often underinvest in communicating these or fail to do so in an empathetic or inspiring way. When they don’t fully recognize communication’s role in successful adoption, leaders can experience poor ROI of a different kind: low “return on inspiration.”

Return on inspiration is the relationship between the quality and effort leaders put into communications and the resulting impact on employee engagement and actions. This kind of ROI is high when leaders ignite passion, spark creativity, and motivate individuals to contribute in an enduring way.

One of the most effective approaches is storytelling. The late Steve Jobs, Apple’s cofounder, was an inveterate storyteller who inspired audiences with next-level product launches that took people on a compelling journey to the future. Jobs is frequently quoted as having said, “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.² The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation.”

This sentiment is backed up by data. Public speaking with an emphasis on storytelling is one of the foundational skills CEOs and other leaders need to master in this decade, according to a McKinsey study of 18,000 business professionals across 150 countries.

So how can leaders become better storytellers and inspire their teams to act?

Put the audience first

Leaders don’t have to be a copy of Steve Jobs, but they can learn from his example to show their empathy through communication that gives attention to what that their audiences care about. Employees who believe their leaders are empathic report higher morale, better mental health, less burnout, and a greater likelihood of staying in their jobs, and they are more likely to take risks and be innovative and creative. So rather than telling stories that simply convey the logic and business-level benefits behind a strategy, leaders should consider what audiences might think or feel about the change.

Audiences are not homogeneous, so some degree of segmentation is critical. Leaders can begin by considering a range of audience or stakeholder groups; answering the why, what, and how questions from each group’s unique perspective; and sharing stories that will resonate with and be relevant to each set of stakeholders.

Bridge the gap

Focusing on the audience is a critical starting point, but a leader must share narratives that bridge the gap between where the audience is and where the leader hopes to take them. This requires finding an overlap between the leader’s business goals (for example, establishing a more efficient operating model or creating shareholder value) and employees’ considerations (such as their roles, professional identity, remuneration, ways of working, work environment, and opportunities for impact and advancement). Then the leader needs to define the shifts employees will need to make and the positives and negatives they can expect on the journey. This approach will give people a reason to believe in the change and can create a desire to play a role in it.

For our tech CEO, business-level messaging on the move from a centralized structure to a decentralized one failed to resonate with employees, instead stoking fears of job losses. In response to this situation, the CEO led a series of employee focus groups to understand what people cared about. Through these conversations, he learned that the new business model’s opportunity to be more entrepreneurial resonated strongly with them. People were inspired by the idea of returning to the company’s roots as a start-up where they could try new things and have much more autonomy. The CEO reset the stage for the transformation by reframing the change story around this theme and building a bridge between employees’ career goals and the business’s objectives.

Bring the story to life

There is no easy formula for bringing a story to life. It’s part art and part science. However, understanding the audience’s emotions and making the story real for them is more likely to engage, inspire, and lead to action.

“Making it real” requires leaders to be authentic and vulnerable, but their willingness to do that may decrease as their tenure increases. It’s important to let go and make the leap, because when leaders articulate why they care about a change, express their hopes and concerns honestly, and make personal commitments to lead the way, people will be more likely to remember and be inspired by their message. And research suggests³ that emotionally engaging stories can lead people to act in a way that logic and data cannot.

Devices like imagery, metaphors, analogies, and anecdotes make a story memorable and repeatable. Like a branding effort, these elements can create a shorthand for the change that taps into what’s important to people.

The tech CEO invested heavily in bringing the story to life for his employees. At the transformation reset, he elevated the theme of entrepreneurialism, accompanied by inspiring visuals and a memorable rallying cry. He spoke passionately about the company’s start-up spirit in its early days, its diminishment over time, and his determination to rekindle it. He reinforced key points with a series of employee examples showcasing entrepreneurship in action across different functions, which enabled people to visualize themselves as part of the change. Teams and individuals left feeling energized to define their own roles in the company’s entrepreneurial future.

What’s your return on inspiration?

A compelling change story, shared at all levels, can spell the difference between inertia and inspiration. It can help employees make sense of and engage in the changes they are being asked to make. The tech CEO’s efforts paid dividends, leading to higher engagement scores and a positive mindset shift around the transformation.

In times of change, people naturally look to their leaders for information about what is happening and where the organization is heading. So if leaders want to ensure their return on inspiration is high when they introduce a new strategy, vision, or organizational change, they should invest time in developing and sharing stories that are relevant, relatable, and repeatable—and that motivate employees to act.

¹ McKinsey Transformational Change Survey, 2021.
² Brent Dykes, “The future of storytelling is augmented not automated,” Forbes, February 27, 2024.
³ Paul J Zak, “Why inspiring stories make us react: The neuroscience of narrative,” The Dana Foundation, February 2, 2015.