Jason Seiden

I'd start sharing before you know your purpose—not everyone's lucky enough to know their why. ACTION will guide you to areas where you're comfortable, naturally better, or better connected. It will also create natural frustration when you come up short, and if you're committed to being better, you'll naturally look for ways to overcome those shortcomings (it's in your nature to do that!), one of which will be—want to guess?—to clarify your purpose!

Storytelling "trends"? Isn't the whole point of storytelling to connect with people based on our primal, human hardwiring—sort of the opposite of trends, no? I read widely (and critically) to keep sharp, absolutely. I agree with that. And certainly, different channels require different adaptations to how stories are consumed and therefore, told. But storytelling itself? Call me old-fashioned, but I actually appreciate that storytelling has been a stable, consistent practice now for thousands of years!

One of the ways I use humor is to make otherwise "dangerous" topics (ie, controversial, inappropriate, or insensitive) safe for discussion. So how do I avoid stepping over a line with a new audience? I don't always: I do take more risk than I think most people are comfortable with. That said, here are a few ways I mitigate those risks when talking with a new crowd: (1) everyone in my stories are doing their best—if there's a problem, it's due to interpretation & circumstance, not maliciousness or incompetence; (2) I key off of things other people say rather than starting whole new topics; and (3) much of my humor revolves around me being in "teachable moments," which allows me to pivot from humor to genuine curiosity & appreciation.

Steps 3 (Network) & 6 (Learn) are actually a single step. Pitch your stories everywhere, even when you're getting coffee. And every time you pitch, commit to learning both how to improve and also who to network with. Write down peoples' reaction (eg, when did their eyes glaze or light up?), as well as the demographics, title, etc of the person you were talking to. Every time you add ~10-15 new people, read your notes and look for trends. The areas for improvement will jump out at you! You'll also see if you're spending too much time with people who aren't your buyers.

Where does a transformational leader start the conflict resolution process? Not where LI's AI answer bot suggests, that's for sure. This textbook answer will work for a manager or HRBP, but if you're doing this, you're not thinking transformationally. THAT starts with the big picture, reminding people of the team's vision and that it's only doable by working together. Since many problems are a function of people losing the forest for the trees, so to speak, a transformation leader 1st tries to pull everyone's perspective up before getting into specifics. This alone can resolve many problems. Also, peoples' reactions will tell the leader if they're in for the journey or themselves—and that's actually the 1st thing a leader needs to assess.

Think about getting new executives. Poor comms at the exec level can ripple quickly throughout the org and create miscommunications, operational gaps, staffing redundancies, and/or politics at every level. Meanwhile, assessment/training/coaching/etc take time, and their value doesn’t always scale. Make sure you’re solving the right problem.