3.2 The power of leadership stories

Storytelling is about communicating with an audience to lead them to feel or do something. It is therefore a political process of persuasion that engages with power – whether that’s to obey power, challenge it, build it, recognise it or simply to understand it. The nature of power in storytelling can be clarified through each genre:

A central concern of racial justice campaigners is questioning the way in which history is recorded and repeated. Stories that are passed on through education or popular culture can be partial accounts that serve to strengthen the powerful, rather than offering new and challenging perspectives. An important task for both critical researchers and activists is therefore to unearth hidden histories, stories that have been subdued. Unearthing people who have achieved remarkable things but been forgotten in history can be an emancipatory experience – not least because it can highlight vital aspects of the past that can inform our practice in the present. Such stories can of course simply be inspirational and help maintain energy in leadership practice.