More Magic of Metaphor: Stories for Leaders, Influencers and Motivators
Crownhouse Publishing, December 2004 ISBN: 1904424414
by Nick Owen
[Following HLT's normal policy that is leary of peer-review, Nick Owen reviews his own book below]
Four holy men from four religious communities were invited to give thanks at a fund raising dinner in New York. The priest offered a prayer about tolerance. The rabbi gave a lecture about charity. The imam sought greater compassion and understanding in the world. The Buddhist monk, however, told a story. And the story contained a 'message' for the diners to reflect upon. A week after the dinner, nobody could remember the prayers or the lectures. But everybody remembered the monk's story and the power of its message.
For thousands of years, stories, parables, allegories, anecdotes, and metaphors have been used to transmit the wisdom of communities. They carry information in highly contextual, memorable ways. Great teachers and leaders have used story and metaphor to convey the essence of their message in ways that can be grasped easily, acted upon readily, and which resonate in the mind of the listeners long after the telling.
The themes of this book are: what constitutes effective leadership? Not only in business, politics, and the community, but also for teachers, mentors, coaches, parents, colleagues, friends, peers, and lovers. And above all, how do we lead ourselves? The art of compassionate self-leadership is a pre-requisite if we are to influence and lead others with clarity, respect, and integrity.
Through 60+ stories, gathered across 3000 years of time and from all five continents, some old and re-worked, some new, the book examines the varied and multi-faceted aspects of leadership, and asks, how can I become more of a sensitive and effective leader in my life? What is my contribution? How can I be of service to others in appropriate ways? What is it I need to respond to in myself and in others that will enable me to hold a space in which all can thrive and connect with their full potential?
The book works at several levels. You can read it just for the stories. You can take the stories and creatively make your own teaching materials from them, or you can take suggestions from the book about ways of using the ideas.
At another level you can follow the journey of exploration and personal development of a young 'magician' seeking out answers to the challenge of discovering what constitutes great leadership, and how is it possible to influence people to want to do things for themselves and make the changes they want to in their lives. There is a useful section in which the stories are sorted by themes.
At another level still, there is an exploration of the ways in which all our behaviours are outward manifestations of our inner values and beliefs. And how, if we take time to discover what the values and thinking styles of other people are, we will not only have a better understanding of them, and why they do what they do, but we will also begin to learn how to create the conditions in which they can naturally motivate themselves.
Finally, there is an introduction, woven simply into the fabric of the narrative, to some new and powerful models about human experience, new ways of thinking about human nature, change, and meaning-making - essentials for positive growth, and for effective teaching and leading.
To conclude, here is a story from the book which, for me, demonstrates the power of working with people's valuing systems, rather than in opposition to them. The change that occurs is more elegant and effective because it naturally evolves within the children's and the culture's own frames of reference and is not imposed from outside. The strategy respects the right of the children to be who they are, and to be able to make the changes they need to when they are ready. The stranger knows how to make appropriate interventions by working with the world as it is, not how he might prefer it to be. The stranger is an effective leader, not by dictating what should and should not happen, but by creating the conditions in the community through which change can naturally occur so that everybody may begin to benefit and learn.
Rewarding Behaviour
A stranger from a distant country moved into a house on the edge of town. It was a town that wasn't much used to outsiders, and so it wasn't uncommon for the local kids to gather around his fence at various times of the day or night and hurl insults at him, or throw all sorts of rubbish into his garden.
One morning the man surprised the kids by coming out to greet them. He said, "Where I come from people can shout much louder than you. And they're more creative too. I'm getting bored hearing the same things from you every day. I'm sure you can do better. So I'll tell you what. I'll give you all a dollar if you come tomorrow with the loudest and most unpleasant insults you can think of."
The kids thought this was a great idea. They came back next day with some really choice insults that they'd got from their parents and elder brothers.
"Pretty good," said the stranger handing out the cash, "but is that really the best you can do. Come back tomorrow and, if you can improve on today, I'll give you 50 cents each."
The children returned next day and hurled some very colourful abuse at the man. They chanted long and loud, and when they were done, he gave them their promised reward. "Excellent," he said, "much better. Come again tomorrow, but I can only afford 10 cents."
"Only 10 cents," responded the children, deeply affronted, "You're joking!"
So they stayed away. And they never came back. It wasn't worth it.
Nick Owen has worked in education for many years, including periods with Pilgrims, NILE, and the British Council. His company, Nick Owen Associates, specialises in personal and professional development across a wide variety of contexts. He is an NLP Trainer and Master Practitioner, a practitioner of Spiral Dynamics, and author of the bestselling, The Magic of Metaphor: 77 Stories for Teachers, Trainers, and Thinkers, Crownhouse 2001. Web address: www.nickowen.net
Tip: buy through www.nickowen.net offering 30% discount on both my books.
Please check the Creative Methodology course at Pilgrims website.
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