The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative PDF
Preview The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative
Denning.ffirs 8/17/07 8:52 AM Page iii The SECRET LANGUAGE of LEADERSHIP • HOW LEADERS INSPIRE ACTION THROUGH NARRATIVE STEPHEN DENNING John Wiley & Sons,Inc. Denning.ffirs 8/17/07 8:52 AM Page i More Praise for The Secret Language of Leadership “Out ofthe morass ofstrategies leaders are given to transform organizations,Denning plucks a powerful one—storytelling— and shows how and why it works.” —Dorothy Leonard,William J.Abernathy Professor ofBusiness, Emerita,Harvard Business School,and author,Deep Smarts: How to Cultivate and Transfer Enduring Business Wisdom “The Secret Language ofLeadershipshows why narrative intelligence is central to transformational leadership and how to harness its power.” —Carol Pearson,director,James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership,University ofMaryland,and coauthor,The Hero and the Outlaw “The Secret Language ofLeadershipis not only the best analysis I have seen ofhow and why leaders succeed or fail,it’s highly readable,as well as downright practical.It should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in engaging a company with big ideas who under- stands that leaders live and die by the quality ofwhat they say.” —Richard Stone,story analytics master,i.d.e.a.s “A primary role ofleaders is to create and maintain meaning for their organizations.Denning clearly demonstrates that meaning- making comes from stories well told.” —Thomas Davenport,President’s Distinguished Professor ofI.T.and Management,Babson College, and author,The Attention Economy “Steve Denning is one ofthe leading thinkers on the power ofnarra- tive in business settings.His latest book is a smart,useful guide that can help leaders ofevery kind add value to their organizations and add meaning to their own journeys.” —Daniel H.Pink,author,A Whole New Mind Denning.ffirs 8/17/07 8:52 AM Page ii Denning.ffirs 8/17/07 8:52 AM Page iii The SECRET LANGUAGE of LEADERSHIP • HOW LEADERS INSPIRE ACTION THROUGH NARRATIVE STEPHEN DENNING John Wiley & Sons,Inc. Denning.ffirs 8/17/07 8:52 AM Page iv Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons,Inc.All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street,San Francisco,CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com Wiley Bicentennial logo:Richard J.Pacifico No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,scanning,or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 ofthe 1976 United States Copyright Act,without either the prior written permission ofthe publisher,or authorization through payment ofthe appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center,Inc.,222 Rosewood Drive,Danvers, MA 01923,978-750-8400,fax 978-646-8600,or on the Web at www.copyright.com.Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department,John Wiley & Sons,Inc.,111 River Street,Hoboken,NJ 07030,201-748-6011,fax 201-748-6008,or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further infor- mation may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read. Limit ofLiability/Disclaimer ofWarranty:While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book,they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness ofthe contents ofthis book and specifically disclaim any implied war- ranties ofmerchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials.The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.You should consult with a professional where appro- priate.Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss ofprofit or any other commer- cial damages,including but not limited to special,incidental,consequential,or other damages. Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores.To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S.at 800-956-7739,outside the U.S.at 317-572-3986,or fax 317-572-4002. Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety ofelectronic formats.Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Denning,Stephen. The secret language ofleadership :how leaders inspire action through narrative / Stephen Denning.—1st ed. p.cm. “A Wiley Imprint.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7879-8789-3 (cloth) 1.Leadership.2.Communication in organizations.3.Storytelling. I.Title. HD57.7.D49 2007 658.4'5—dc22 2007028784 Printed in the United States ofAmerica first edition HB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Denning.ftoc 8/17/07 8:53 AM Page v [ ] C ONTENTS Preface:My Leadership Journey vii Part One: What Is Transformational Leadership? 1 Introduction:Ten Mistakes Transformational Leaders Make 3 1 The Secret Language of Leadership 21 Part Two: The Language of Leadership: Key Enablers 51 2 Articulating a Clear,Inspiring Goal 53 3 The Leader’s Own Story:Committing to the Goal 65 4 Mastering the Audience’s Story 80 5 Cultivating Narrative Intelligence 92 6 Telling Truthful Stories 116 7 Leadership Presence:The Body Language of Leadership 132 Part Three: The Language of Leadership: Key Steps 147 8 Getting People’s Attention 149 9 Stimulating Desire 166 10 Reinforcing with Reasons 187 11 Continuing the Conversation 199 12 Epilogue 211 Appendix 1:Presentation to the Change Management Committee of the World Bank:April 1996 221 Appendix 2:Templates and Exercises 229 Appendix 3:What’s Your Narrative Intelligence? 235 Notes 245 Acknowledgments 265 About the Author 267 Index 269 v Denning.ftoc 8/17/07 8:53 AM Page vi Contents The Secret Language of Leadership. S T Reinforcing Continuing Getting Stimulating E with the attention desire P reason conversation S Deploying body language E Telling authentically truthful stories N A Using narrative intelligence B L E Understanding the audience’s story R S The leader’s own story: committing to the change idea Articulating a clear, inspiring change idea vi Denning.fpref 8/17/07 8:52 AM Page vii [ ] P REFACE MY LEADERSHIP JOURNEY My own leadership journey began abruptly late on Monday afternoon, February 5,1996.That day,I’d asked for a meeting with one ofthe man- aging directors ofthe World Bank—one ofthe three people who reported to the president of the bank and were charged with running its opera- tions.As the director of the Africa Region,I needed to see him because that curious thing known as “my career”had just then taken a turn for the worse. The World Bank is an international lending organization located in Washington,D.C.,and aimed at relieving global poverty.For several decades,I had held a number ofpositions and functions,including pro- gramming and budgeting, the West Africa riverblindness program, population,health and nutrition programs,and the quality control of operations. In the early 1990s, I had been director of the Southern Africa Department,where I had overseen the work of several hundred people working in ten countries.Now,as director ofthe Africa Region,I was responsible for the operations of more than a thousand staff work- ing in forty-three countries.After that much experience as an executive, I believed that I understood management,although I was about to dis- cover that I had much to learn about leadership. Large organizations may look stable,but appearances are deceptive. In the past year,the president had unexpectedly died.Last month,my boss had decided to retire.Now someone else had just been named to my post. vii Denning.fpref 8/17/07 8:52 AM Page viii Preface: My Leadership Journey The office of managing director is just two grade levels above direc- tor.To an outsider,those two grade levels might not seem like much,but from the inside,the difference was an abyss. Like most organizations,the World Bank has a hierarchical manage- ment style.It’s the same “look-up-and-yell-down”style as in the private sector. At the beginning of the interview,I told the managing director that I’d heard the announcement that someone else was to fill my position. Did they have anything in mind for me? “Not really,”he replied with a smile. I wasn’t surprised.There had been inklings oftrouble afoot.Just one month before,I’d been asked in the street if it was true that I was being pushed aside.My boss had confirmed that the scene was turbulent:his own decision to retire exposed me to the vagaries ofthe clan warfare that pervades large organizations. The managing director quickly explained to me the diminishing range ofmy career options.The organization had no plans for me.There were no specific positions available.There weren’t even any lists ofpossi- ble positions on which I might figure. He spoke to me dismissively,as though I had had no prior reputa- tion, no credit for anything I had done over several decades, and no prospects.His world was a personnel chessboard and I was no longer a player.I had become a nobody. When I pressed him, he said finally, “Why don’t you look into information?” Information? In February 1996,information in the World Bank had all the prestige ofthe garage or the cafeteria—a wasteland from which no traveler had ever returned.The message was unmistakable:I was being sent to Siberia. Although the interview was bad news,the imperial style of delivery was something else.The managing director gazed on me as though he’d just swatted a fly. At the time,I had no way of knowing that his own vast power was a facade.He had been chosen precisely because he was a loyal staffofficer.I viii
Description:The list of books you might like
