If there was a space in which narrative is used that both Left and Right-Wing practitioners of narrative techniques come together in a face-off, it is the Leadership context. It is also in this space that the most misrepresentation and misunderstanding of narrative techniques (and their purposes) has taken place. From my perspective, I have seen three uses of narrative techniques for Leaders:  read more »

Airport book shops are usually pretty crowded with books. I suppose their attempt is to satisfy the multiple needs of a smart, savvy reader who is pretty particular about their reading material. One of the most popular sections is a relatively new arena of literary pieces - they are stories of leaders who head up the biggest of the big. Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner, Richard Branson are but a handful of the characters we find on the autobiography shelf. It is this shelf that has grown significantly in the last few years along with it's prevalence as a genre.

Over the last decade we have seen the emergence of a new literary genre - that of the corporate autobiography. These are best-selling self-narratives of the high powered CEO in which we hear how their life is entwined with the organisation, how they navigate the business landscape and how they apply their personal style of leadership to the organisation. If nothing else, the emergence of this genre is proof alone that we're moving into an economic era characterised by personality and relationship.  read more »