“We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say — and to feel — “Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.”
– John Steinbeck, American Author (1902 – 1968)
Steinbeck was prolific (27 books, dozens — perhaps hundreds — of short stories), and his insights ring true almost fifty years after his passing.
Loneliness is a powerful motivator, and sometimes business leaders feel very much alone. “It’s lonely at the top” is the old stand-by statement, but the fact is, it can be danged lonely any time a decision has to be made and it has to be made by us.
The stories that we tell become extremely important in these times. The stories that we tell others, seeking their input or counsel. The stories that we tell ourselves, seeking to rationalize or ratify the decision in terms that hit us physiologically. The stories that we tell those affected by the decision, not only about how it was made, but why, and when.
If we’re gonna spend our lives trying to be less lonesome, we ought to hone the stories that will make people wanna hang around with us. That will make them wanna contribute to our decisions. That will help them support those decisions and execute on them as if they were their own.
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