ielle Dolan
Stories for Work
Storytelling in business offers a powerful way to stimulate emotional connection, where real conversations can inspire and motivate effective employee engagement. With informed analysis, recommendations and case studies, Stories for Work is a comprehensive and practical ‘how-to’ framework for business professionals looking to maximise the impact of storytelling to achieve desired results.
I work in companies and communities all over the globe. The capacity to translate strategy and business imperatives into authentic narratives that massively accelerate authentic execution is critical. Gabrielle’s ability to unleash everyone’s capacity to be influential through their own stories is extraordinary. Stories for Work is an essential and accessible guide to storytelling in business.
The power of storytelling to connect, inspire and create change can never be understated. Gabrielle’s latest book provides wonderful insights and practical examples of how you can use this important skill in both your personal and professional life. We all have stories to share and Gabrielle has given us the tools to really bring this to life.
One of the biggest gaps in leadership today is storytelling. As businesses are continually required to move faster, leaders need to do a better job in helping to point the way and bringing people along with them. It requires a more sophisticated leadership approach; it requires storytelling. Gabrielle Dolan’s Stories for Work will help you unlock the art of storytelling in business.
If you think storytelling in the workplace is simply about ‘once upon a time’ then you couldn’t be more wrong! Gabrielle Dolan successfully and very quickly teaches us something much more powerful … presenting is auditioning for leadership and using personal stories for business purpose is demonstrating authentic leadership.
Gabrielle Dolan is the bomb. She explodes into your world like a force majeure, real, grounded and inspirational. Clearly she is Australia’s leading corporate storytelling expert and her latest book, Stories for Work, is brilliant. The story wheel alone is an idea that opens your mind to the possibility of storytelling to influence and inspire greatness in your people. Gabrielle Dolan is a true thought leader.
If you care about meaningful progress (beyond the default), you need to harness the power of storytelling. This book is a perfect place to start.
Gabrielle’s book highlights the different ways you can use stories to drive and achieve business goals. We have used storytelling to bring Bupa’s purpose and values to life through our leaders sharing personal stories, to demonstrate what our purpose and values mean to them. This approach was hugely impactful for Bupa, with people quickly living our values, and I’m sure this approach would work equally well in other organisations too. Read, absorb, and start telling stories!
Gabrielle Dolan is a master storyteller. In Stories for Work Gabrielle shares her in-depth knowledge, giving you the inspiration and know-how for you to start successfully using stories in business. It truly is the essential guide to business storytelling and a must-read for anyone in business.
In Stories for Work Australia’s leading expert in business storytelling pulls back the curtain on the art of sharing great stories. Gabrielle Dolan reveals the science behind what makes stories the most effective tool in a leader’s communication kit and the step-by-step process for crafting the different types of stories you’ll need. She’s also included dozens of real life business stories that will not only illustrate what she’s talking about, but will make you laugh out loud, and possibly tear up a little too. Compulsory reading for any leader wanting to get their message across more effectively.
Gabrielle Dolan is more than just a story-teller, she’s a story-doer. Watching Gabrielle deliver her business storytelling expertise is an adventure worthy of a rollicking page turner – and this is it!!!
First published in 2017 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
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© Gabrielle Dolan Consulting 2017
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.
Cover design by Wiley
Author Photo: Timothy Arch
Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.
About the author
Gabrielle Dolan is a global thought leader on authentic leadership and business storytelling.
She’s worked with thousands of high-profile leaders from around the world, helping them to become better leaders and communicators using the art of business storytelling. Gabrielle is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, and works with some of Australia’s top 50 ASX companies, including National Australia Bank, Australia Post, Telstra and ANZ, and multinationals such as Accenture, Bupa, Ericsson and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In the past, Gabrielle has held various senior leadership roles at National Australia Bank in change management and organisational change. She also co-founded One Thousand & One, one of Australia’s leading storytelling companies, before launching
