Sensitive, empathic, concerned and aware of the immense power of digital media and social networks, and of the business influence of inspiring stories. Please meet:
The Narrative Leadership of a New World
Verizon Communications CEO Hans Vestberg, stands teary-eyed before company employees in a video conference, speaking of the demonstrations taking place in the United States. ” The events unfolding across the country that are rooted in hate are contradictory with our beliefs as a company and leave me with a feeling of regret and sadness. Verizon is fiercely committed to diversity and inclusion across all spectrums because it makes us and the world better.”
In a fragile world where the cracks are widening before our eyes, with the corona crisis and continuing violence in the United States, the world’s business leadership is experiencing a rebirth: Sensitive, empathetic, concerned and aware of the immense power of digital information and social networks, and of the influence of inspiring stories.
“My stomach hurts. The past few days have reminded us of some deep flaws in our society and a broken system… I encourage you to speak up, express yourselves, be active in your own communities, be involved in making a change.” wrote Amir Orad, CEO of Sisense, on Linkedin, attaching the letter he’s written to his firm’s employees in which he wrote. “If you need some time in the coming days to participate and/or demonstrate, you have my strong support & we’ll ensure you don’t lose any vacation days or be negatively impacted.”
Since the beginning of history, tribes, nations and countries have been propelled and guided by creative and thought leadership. Especially in times of crisis, words of leadership have tremendous power and the ability to help us recover, to stand on our feet and gather ourselves anew, or to shatter and break us into fragments.
Stories are fuel for our spirit and our self-awareness
They lift us, console us, provide us with a reason and justification for existence. A good story is a very powerful transformational tool. When many people connect to the same narrative, a shared spirit and team spirit is created. Connecting the shared story to digital media tools and social networks creates a centrifugal force capable of harnessing, accelerating and brining about significant change in people, communities and organizations.
A “well-told story” by the right person, timed correctly, distributed on digital platforms is the most efficient, most powerful tool leaders and managers can choose at the present time for realizing a growth strategy in and outside an organization. A survey of the current leading organizations discloses that each of them is built on one of four basic principles: based on a fascinating narrative, led by purpose, based on technology and digital platforms, and surrounded by a powerful community.
Narratives of outstanding leaders
The story is that when Churchill was asked to cut funding to the arts in order to support the war effort in World War II, he responded “Then what would we be fighting for?”
Churchill chose the “who are we” narrative line, explaining to the United Kingdom’s residents that British culture dating back years is something very dear, something worth fighting and even dying for. According to Christine Cavanaugh-Simmons, a senior adviser to the British leadership, most of the world’s most prominent leaders prefer governing within the scope of the following three narratives:
1. Where are we going? (Strategic narrative).
2. Who are we? (Our identity, who we aspire to be)
3. Who am I? (Who am I as a leader and what is my place in the community/society to which I belong)
During the corona pandemic, I have carefully monitored the social networks for narratives chosen by managers. Adam Singolda, the founder and CEO of Taboola, chose to emphasize his company’s key role in the battle against “fake news,” which has increased in severity during the corona period. Singolda chose the Where Are We Going narrative, promising in an interview that Taboola will do its all to fight against the damage resulting from distribution of false content on the Internet.
Oren Kaniel, CEO of the AppsFlyer company, disclosed on Linkedin that he learned from a Chinese client that the Chinese word for “crisis” also means “opportunity,” adding that the he greatly inspired by this discovery. Kaniel told his company’s employees that for him — and for them as well – every crisis was an opportunity, and that every difficulty offered a great deal of inspiration as well. Like Churchill in his time, Kaniel chose the second kind of narrative, the Who Are We, and who do we want to be within the crisis.
A letter from the Canadian administration to its employees used these words: “You are not working from home, you are at your home during a crisis, trying to work.
“Your personal physical, mental, and emotional health is far more important than anything else right now. You should not try to compensate for lost productivity by working longer hours,” continues the letter in the spirit of empathy and understanding so essential for these times. The letter, distributed on Twitter by one of the employees, became viral within a day. During a time of crisis, empathy is a wonderful organizational narrative. They obviously chose the Who Are We narrative and what kind of employer we choose to be during a time of crisis.
And, of course, it’s impossible not to mention the famous letter that conquered the networks, by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky to people dismissed by the company, beginning with the words “I am truly sorry. Please know that this is not your fault. The world will never stop seeking the qualities and talents that you brought to Airbnb…that helped make Airbnb.” Firing 1,500 people is a tragedy, but the manner Chesky chose to connect the crisis to the dismissed, to those remaining, to clients and to the entire market is a school for humanity and management of the organizational narrative, even when it’s difficult.
Chesky chose the Who Am I narrative. What kind of man he is inside this tragedy. Hurting, empathetic, filled with compassion and recruited to help. It’s the kind of leadership that we need now: Sensitive, courageous, ethical, filled with empathy and providing genuine support.
Narrative-symbolic capital exists alongside economic capital
Leaders and managers of the new world are aware of the fact that society’s narrative capital, “symbolic capital,” as it was called by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, exists alongside its financial capital. This capital is not economic or material, it’s basic, symbolic, social, value driven and cultural. It is built of a continuity of messages, stories and contents spread coincidentally or strategically building the reputation and perceptions of every society, organization or country.
In the era of “attentive economics,” a time of transparency and of the growing influence of social networks, rooting the narrative-symbolic capital and managing it in a strategic and measurable manner is necessary for any organization seeking growth.
Three vectors that govern our lives during these turbulent times, and pull us in different directions: the political — democracy fighting for its life against dictatorial regimes; the social — humanity and sympathy that have come to light at the height of their beauty in the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements; and the economic– The corona crisis which we are yet to recover from. While dealing with all three, organization will need to establish their narrative to lead both internally and externally.
Crises come and go, but the narrative you choose remains. It is what will inspire employees and clients to remain also when times are hard.
*Imi Eiron, founder of like a rainbow is an expert in managing organizational narratives in the digital space. She is a former advertising executive and the co-founder and CEO of the women-centric website and blogging platform Saloona.
