Modern leaders need to encourage their organizations to thrive on innovation and embrace opportunities to do things differently. Based on the author's experience training executives, the paper aims to conclude that successful leaders inspire enthusiasm for change through communication that is fundamentally differently from the traditional, abstract approach.
Effective leaders communicate by first getting attention, then stimulating desire and only then reinforcing with reasons. The paper explains the surprising method that works best in practice.
The paper finds a surprisingly effective change management skill: learn to tell simple, attention getting stories that enable audiences to recognize and choose future possibilities that they have hitherto missed.
An ability to spark enthusiasm for change through the use of simple but powerful narratives becomes an essential competence for all leaders in the organization.
The paper reveals that the kinds of stories that are effective for leaders in stimulating desire for change are very different from what most people expect.
