Back to Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind. The next skill he believes is critical to success in this age of Customization, Asia and Abundance, is storytelling. During your career search I believe this is the most important skill a student develops and that it must be understood early in the process.
Pink’s take: facts are easy to come by. “What begins to matter more is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact.” Pink goes on to demonstrate the power of stories in personal life in business, in medicine and even in the purchase of a bottle of wine.
Yesterday I listened to the 75 new international students at Darden introduce themselves to their classmates with direction to give their name, country and a “fun fact” about themselves. A few told a very brief story and its really only these few I remember: a student from China whose Chinese names sounds like Stephen King, Tara whose mother is from Mexico and her father is from Persia, a matchmaker/executive recruiter from China, a belly dancer from India, and a Chinese woman with an Irish accent.
My favorite Pink anecdote was the use of storytelling on a wine bottle. Apparently he went to purchase a bottle of wine, looked at three similarly priced wines – two of which had sexy attractive labels and all the right words. The third, though, told a story on the back of the label of the brothers who make the wine and give a small portion of the proceeds to a particular charity. The story was compelling and gave the wine a persona. Needless to say he bought that bottle.
The technical concept that Pink relays is, I believe, extremely useful in telling personal stories about ourselves, our accomplishments, and our success stories. The concept is “the hero’s journey.” We’ve all heard the story:
“Once upon a time, in a far-off land, lived a hero who was prosperous, happy, and respected by all. One day, three visitors arrived. They began pointing out the hero’s many flaws and told him he was unfit to remain. The hero resisted, but to no avail. He was ousted from his land and sent off to a few he met during his exile, he transformed himself and vowed to make his way back. And eventually he did return, where he was welcomed to a place he scarcely recognized, but that he still understood was home.”
The “hero’s journey” is taken from Joseph Campbell’s 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell argues that this tale is the basis of all great stories. The three parts of the story—Departure, Initiation, and Return—are essential elements of many of our career stories.
A personal example: an interviewer asks me a significant obstacle I’ve had to overcome. My reply goes something like this: My career transition to Darden was the culmination of a two-year obstacle.
[THE DEPARTURE] I had an extremely successful sixteen year career in consumer products marketing prior to coming to Darden. When the company with which I worked was acquired by another, my job was eliminated.
After a longer than expected search I landed a job (a promotion) at a company that I knew was not exactly a good cultural match. Unfortunately, I immediately started performing below the expectations of my employer and below the standards for which I was known. Within twelve months the company and I agreed to part ways. My confidence was low, and my search off to a slow start.
[THE INITIATION] Slowly my confidence returned, as my career objective was validated through my family and friends. The next job search was a bit more thorough. Self assessment was the first step in the process, and my objective was broader. I relied on the advice of those close to me—they began to give me feedback on the options I was considering. And I was presented with “a gift:” in my mind, the opportunity to do what I loved (marketing), for a product in which I believed (Darden), in a beautiful setting (UVA, Charlottesville). I did have to let go though of my desire to stay in New Jersey and keep climbing the corporate ladder.
[THE RETURN] We made the decision to move to Charlottesville. The move was tough on the family—my kids still have best friends in New Jersey six years later. But I have thrived in my career since making the decision. I have grown my skill set. I do something I love. I’ve had the opportunity to grow and expand my responsibilities. I work with amazing, dedicated professionals and incredibly talented, motivated students. I plan to stay until they won’t have me anymore.
So there it is: Departure, Initiation, and Return. I believe it’ll work for your personal stories as well. This construct invites the reader in and draws on their empathy, while allowing you to demonstrate the requisite skills and experiences.
Pink summarizes in the Story chapter by turning the story to us:
“We are our stories. We compress years of experience, thought, and emotion into a few compact narratives that we convey to others and tell to ourselves. That has always been true. But personal narrative has become more prevalent, and perhaps more urgent, in a time of abundance, when many of us are freer to seek a deeper understanding of ourselves and our purpose.” (Pink 115)
Personal storytelling is a skill that can be learned, practiced and perfected. Start working on it with your colleagues/classmates, so that when companies arrive on campus, you’ll be ready.
One good resource to help (see the CDC Portal, under Marketing Yourself, for others):
Hansen, Katherine. Quintessential Careers: Tell me about Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers. Jist Works, April 1, 2009.
Excerpt from the book with the same title.