Two Sides of Authentic Leadership
I remember hearing this parable for the first time several years ago at a storytelling festival. If I'm totally honest, the person telling the story was awful... which speaks to the power of the story itself.
I found myself equally entranced by the three main characters -- the well meaning farmer, the mislabeled eagle, and the insightful wiseman.I won't go into the story here (watch the video to hear the parable), instead, I want to talk about an interesting aspect this parable teaches us about the connection between storytelling and authentic leadership.
As a leader in business, sharing the stories of who you are outside of your role is a powerful strategy to build trust and loyalty with the people you lead.
Each authentic story demonstrates the essence of who you are beyond what they might read in your Linked In profile. A focus on relationships at work is proving to be both important and valuable and stories help foster those relationships.
However, beyond the stories you tell about yourself, another element of storytelling (and one revealed by the wiseman in this parable), is recognizing the stories that might be buried within those you lead. You may be showing up authentically each day, but is your team? Additionally, is this disconnect from their own authentic stories keeping your team members from reaching their full potential (much like the eagle in the parable).
There is nothing more inspiring than having a leader see a story within us -- catching a glimpse of the spark of a story we didn't even know was there. Authentic leaders demand truth-of-self not just of themselves, but also of those they lead.Much like the wiseman, don't give up until you help your team members discover the true stories waiting within them -- stories they may have overlooked.