Your Career is a Story with Impact

Part 2 of 3 by Brian Beatty

A story is one of the most powerful ways to win people over.

If I were interviewing you and asked about your work, you would tell me a story of sorts.  You wouldn’t stop to prepare it, because you know it well and tell it all the time. Usually you tell it in bits and pieces. Often to friends and colleagues. Sometimes you share it with clients. In a key interview, your story is a deciding factor. I call it your career narrative.

Think about the last time you heard a good story. And then…? What happens next…? Storytelling restores our sense of discovery, and keeps us in touch with possibilities.

That’s because the format of a narrative, where events unfold one after the other, has a profound impact on our imagination. There’s leverage in discovery. Limitations fade away. The future unfolds anew.

Have you ever told a friend a story and then two weeks later, he mentions the same thing, as if it was his idea? According to research from Princeton, storytelling is the only way to plant an idea into someone’s mind. It activates the brain so that a listener can turn the narrative into his own idea and experience.

How does your career narrative plant the idea of you being the ideal candidate?  What is your process to maximize your career narrative?