“Story-listening" as Leadership

Leadership development is one the of the areas most commonly associated with storytelling. The thought is that leaders can use stories to build trust, unit cohesion, motivation, and change. Sometimes the discussion focuses on the leader’s performative abilities to tell stories to achieve those goals. So the attention goes to finding training resources that will help the leader be more effective telling stories, such as how to be more persuasive, how to wow crowds, how to speak with confidence, and so on. Even though these performative skills are important, I want to draw focus on the idea that “story listening” is also an essential skill for leaders. The ability to listen “for the story” and “listen to the story” means that the leaders are focused not on what they themselves are saying, but on what others have to say.
Listening for the story means an openness to the various voices and perspectives in an organization, and being attuned to the prospects new stories may offer to strengthen the leader’s perspective and ideas. But this must be intentional and purposeful to be effective. Listening to the story, on the other hand, is about finding what is compelling about the story and its potential effect on the leader and the organization. Leading with stories sometimes requires a shift from an active producing stance to an active receiving stance, and this requires the leader to find opportunities where the story can provide guidance and direction.
If leading is about influence, how have you used stories to influence others? And most importantly, how have stories influenced or transformed your decision making?