When It Comes To Storytelling, Why Should The Boss Have All The Fun?

How many times have we heard that leaders should be great storytellers?  The idea here is that leaders should use stories to highlight good things happening in the areas he or she manages, to give a shout-out to those responsible and to generally motivate the entire team.  Or, to borrow stories from other other industries or other times and connect the message to something the team is working on right now.

Those are all good things, but is the leader always the right person to tell the story?  If an associate does something right, in the right way and gets the right results, why not let that person get up there in the staff meeting or town hall and tell her or his own darned story?  The message will be far more compelling coming from the person who actually did the work.

I’d amend the adage to read:  “Leaders Should Be Relentless Finders And Promoters Of Great Stories By The People Who Actually Lived Them!”