The source of leadership influence

I enjoyed facilitating a retreat last week with a group of CEOs and entrepreneurs sharing a community of learning in support of their leadership in their growing organizations. 

One of the insights I tendered was that people only connect with leadership messages when they connect with their leaders on levels that are decidedly narrative and therefore personal. People connect with us when we make it more possible to connect with our stories. And this is vital to leadership because connection is the dog that wags the tail of influence. It is an ultimate delusion to think that a leader could lead without narrative connection,