Why would CEOs need to understand how to leverage the power of stories to lead their companies? Wouldn’t most people say businesses are about profit and loss, not about narrative?
The late Joseph Campbell, author of “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” was a world-renowned mythologist. He believed that all hero myths follow essentially the same story arc.
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man,” Campbell wrote.
Director George Lucas found the theory so compelling that he structured the tale of Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars” to precisely follow Campbell’s hero’s journey.
Here’s a famous example from real life: When Apple guru Steve Jobs was recruiting Pepsi CEO John Sculley, he threw down a challenge. “Do you want to sell sugar water the rest of your life?” Jobs asked. “Or do you want to come with me and change the world?”
Following a story arc
During my decade running a publicly traded tech company, I found that using narrative was essential to helping employees, customers and investors visualize “the possible.” We went from a struggling startup to a NASDAQ company with a market capitalization of $2 billion.
We needed to convince investors they would find Eldorado, ease customer pain with fast-payback innovation; convince engineers that “if you build it, they will come;” and inspire marketers to scale mountainous sales goals.
In a “region of supernatural wonder,” our road of trials included a rescue by angel investors, the magic of a Yoda-like design engineer, the death of a sales patriarch, a seismic technology shift called the Internet, the bursting of the tech bubble and a corporate resurrection through two strategic acquisitions.
You can be sure we paid attention to the bottom line the entire journey.
But in the end, our success depended on one thing, what financial underwriters call, “The story.” What was the customer value proposition? Did we own proprietary technology? Was there a large, unaddressed market with growth potential that could be reached efficiently?
Floating our company’s IPO shares involved a truly “mysterious adventure,” with 10-a-day presentations to mutual fund managers over a globetrotting fortnight and a half. Wall Street veterans call these financial barnstorms “The Road Show.”
And a “decisive victory” was won. We priced our deal at the high end of the estimated trading range.
The power is with you
So the next time you meet with customers, employees or potential investors, don’t just regurgitate data to them using stylized diagrams in a clip-art adorned PowerPoint presentation.
Take them on a journey. Show them how to make their lives easier and more profitable. Convince them of their greatness.
Tell them a story. And the force will be strong with you.
Chris Allison is an author and educator. For 16 years — 10 as chairman and CEO — Chris led Tollgrade Communications Inc. from technology startup to public company to being recognized as one of the best small companies in America.
He shares his passion for business as entrepreneur-in-residence for the economics department at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Chris is the author of a new fiction collection called “Snowflakes: And Other Stories.”
