The Power of Storytelling (Part 1)
In a world obsessed with data & distractions, storytelling remains the bridge to our shared humanity & essence of human nature.
We crave stories. Stories offer an immersive escape from the endless digital distractions that have reduced our attention span to an average of just 8.25 seconds.
In sport, the power of stories goes far beyond individual yearnings- they provide a shared purpose & direction which everyone is included in & connected to. Stories form the foundation of ‘belonging’, reinforce shared language & serve as a source of enjoyment.
Echoes of the Past
Belonging is one of our most fundamental needs.
From the dawn of time, humans have sought inclusion in groups- initially serving the purpose of providing security, evolving into the need for identity, purpose & the basis for meaningful relationships.
Stories transmitted knowledge & warnings but also served the purpose of creating cooperation & bonding. They were the thread that knitted people together whilst influencing attitudes & beliefs whilst offering a way to process & articulate emotions.
How Stories Work
Annette Simmons’ Whoever Tells The Best Story Wins is a book that should be read by all coaches & leaders.
In it, she notes how the human brain is wired to understand & remember stories better than facts or data.
Stories provoke emotions & provide relatability which contributes to enhanced processing & retainment of the information.
In a previous blog I wrote on ‘delivering engaging meetings’, I mentioned the need for coaches to have a basic understanding of human psychology to optimize learning.
Likewise, stories have the ability to not only enhance learning but inspire the actions that follow this learning.
Dopamine is released when attaching ourselves emotionally to a story which enhances engagement & retention and leaves us wanting more- a positive result for the person telling the story & for the team that now has a collection of eager & motivated individuals!
Similarly, oxytocin as the hormone responsible for connection & positivity results in feelings of trust, empathy & emotional connection.
Stories used to outline an ambitious vision within a team environment also triggers cortisol- stoking stress & a sense of jeopardy. Rather than being a negative, this serves to align & motivate a competitive group of individuals.
The Spark that Ignites
Team sport is a microcosm for the greater human need for belonging.
You probably need only ask a few players or staff in your team to understand the basis of their motivation for being there, centers around belonging to a group.
At the elite level of sport, teams increasingly comprise of individuals from different countries, cultural backgrounds, religions etc. & the responsibility of the leader includes skillfully bringing their people together.
Stories break down barriers with individuals often seeing themselves reflected in the characters or events of a story. Players & staff are bound together through the goals & values sewed into the fabric of a story.
Successful teams require trust. Sharing stories gives us a deeper understanding of the journey, experience & motivations of others which significantly strengthens our social capital.
Unity Through Language
As a former English literature teacher, I’ll admit to having a bias for language!
When invited into a team environment, one of the first things that stands out is whether there’s a common language being spoken. If so, that team invariably has a stronger foundation to work from.
Stories (& themes specifically) provide a bedrock for ‘being on the same page’.
We are shaped by our experiences & often construct our own individual identity through the stories we tell ourselves & others. In the sharing of stories, we construct a collective identity that creates coherence & purpose.
One particular team I spent time with had forged such a powerful identity around embracing the perception that they were collectively disliked that a considerable portion of the language used centered around ‘being different’ & ‘proving people wrong & themselves right’. Powerful!
The Vehicle for Values
Part 2 of this blog will focus on how to skillfully construct resonating stories but it’s important to note how critical values are in leadership & how stories provide the greatest instrument to articulate these.
The ability to persuade is central to every coach’s craft whether it be raising belief in the team’s ability to do something special, creating ‘buy-in’ to a new tactical idea or engendering trust that the latest conditioning block will have major transferable benefits.
Stories are extremely compelling tools for persuasion & influencing a group.
Constructing stories that reinforce shared values are absorbed by your audience & often result in greater ownership of these values because they engage both the emotional and rational parts of the brain.
There’s something particularly powerful about a coach who can influence a group’s behaviors & direction through narration & demonstration rather than simply making statements.
Stories that Inspire Belief
Sport places great emphasis on forward looking- next week’s opponent, seeking a marginal gain or what getting better tomorrow looks like.
Stories provide an effective & precious contrast to this forecasting.
Storytelling provides a rare glimpse back to the infinite number of past events that can be attached to a current goal.
It might be reciting a tale of an ‘underdog’ achieving the “impossible” or more simply reminding a group of previous triumphs & challenges.
Ultimately, by embedding lessons into the narrative, storytelling fosters a deep emotional connection & shared sense of belief.