The Power of Stories to Create Change
We think in stories, we understand in stories, and we remember in stories. Here’s how leaders can use storytelling to spark change.
On a sweltering August day in 1963, Hazel Mangle Rivers of Birmingham, Alabama, paid $8 — one-tenth of her husband’s weekly salary — for a bus ticket to Washington, D.C. She joined 200,000 other people marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to advocate for civil rights.
The March was crucial in helping to pass the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It was there that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, a defining moment for human rights and one of the most galvanizing public narratives in American history.
Stories move us. They frame and reframe the way we understand the world, and ourselves in it.
The storytelling, movement-building approach used by Dr. King and others has deep roots in social justice work, political campaigns and faith communities.
But this specific approach for using stories to ignite change isn’t just for the social sector— it can also be used strategically by companies and organizations seeking to ignite change from within, or advance a bold mission.
I recently discovered the work of Marshall Ganz, a community organizing expert who got his start as a civil rights worker in the ’60s. In the decades since, he has worked with Cesar Chavez to organize migrant farmers, developed the grassroots organizing model used by the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, and trained scores of community leaders. Ganz now teaches public policy and community action at Harvard. In other words, the man knows a few things about organizing people to create change.
Lesson number one:
Story is a catalytic agent for changing the status quo.
Ganz’s theory of community organizing centers on the power of storytelling. His method is based on three intertwined narratives: the story of self, the story of us, and the story of now. Ganz teaches organizers to start not with high-minded ideals or policy proposals but with biographies — their own, and those of the people they hope to mobilize.
Leaders in any setting can use this simple approach to communicate a vision for change, rally support, and inspire action.
Here’s a look at these three stories — the story of self, the story of us, and the story of now — and how to use them in the service of change-making.
The story of self
The story of self is a personal story — it’s deliberately sharing a part of yourself with others that is real, authentic and human.
When we share the stories we tell about ourselves, it allows people to see us as we are — and identify with the experiences that have shaped where we’ve come from and where we’re going.
Great personal stories forge bonds with listeners by giving context to what we find meaningful and motivating, and usually by exposing some of our flaws and struggles, too. We all love to hear others share these kinds of vulnerable stories, but few people find it easy or comfortable to share their own. It can also be hard to figure out exactly what stories to share, and how to tell them. Check out this excellent article for some of the best and most practical advice I’ve seen on how to identify and develop your own “library” of personal stories.
Some questions to start with:
What stories can you share that will enable others to really “get” you?
What are the key choices that set you on your current path?
What are the challenges and failures you’ve experienced, and what have you learned from them?
What relationships have been the most significant in making you who you are today?
The story of us
The story of us is about finding connections across individual stories and then asking: who are we, together? As a team, a community, a family, an organization?
By building a shared narrative, we can redraw the circles of identity and belonging.
Stories give us the opportunity to redefine “us.” Storytelling is a way to deconstruct existing categories dividing people and to collectively frame new ways of thinking and understanding one another. It’s deep empathy work that builds trust and a sense of common cause.
How do you define “us”?
What characteristics unite this “us”?
What values, aspirations, and experiences will you appeal to when you call on others to join you in action?
What stories can you share that express these values?
The story of now
The story of now is about urgency and action. It’s based on a current opportunity or a threat — and sometimes, both. Ganz talks about tapping into the “fierce urgency of now” in organizing people for social change. It’s important to articulate why this moment is a “movement moment,” when individual and collective motivations converge, and when action is needed and possible.
By connecting a shared narrative to the urgency of now, we give people a reason to not only listen, but act.
What urgent challenge do you hope to inspire others to take action on?
What is your vision of success?
Why is now the time?
What choice are you calling on people to make in order to meet this challenge successfully? How can they act together to achieve this outcome?
And how can they begin now, at this moment?
Go forth, inspire change…and let your stories be your guide.
