INTRODUCTION 

When I was six years old, my dad read Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio to me. My mom read Homer’s Odyssey to me. How many moms read scholarly literature to a six-year-old? With this type of upbringing and early reading list, I had to be honest, or my nose would grow long, and I had to travel the world because I wanted to be seduced by the mermaid’s enchanting call.

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         I didn’t grow a long nose. I didn’t meet a mermaid. But tales abound. And wonderful places and heroes have sprang from the pages of my leadership journey. If I didn’t tell the stories along the way and inspire others, I wouldn’t be living and leading consistently with my why.     

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         Leadership is not complicated. Leadership is vibrating in tune with others so that energy becomes infinite. It takes courage to lead in this world of eye-watering changes, but it also requires storytelling. No matter what plane, train, boardroom, conference hall, virtual meeting room, or restaurant you find yourself in while wearing your leader-skin, tell a tale and you may quite conceivably all at once:

 

• Receive a listening ear.

• Share knowledge.

• Ignite empathy.

• Laugh and make others laugh.

• Communicate who you are.

• Accelerate collaboration.

• Gain followership.

• Stir a positive culture of feedforward. (Stay tuned for more on this concept—I’ll tell you a tale!)

        

         These are my stories that have resonated with many people in the past, and I am pleased to share them now with you.