Making Stories Great Again Episode One Donald J Trump Vs Armageddon:

Make storytelling bang-up again

Just four little words.

In i simple phrase, the US equivalent of Alan Sugar had galvanised a decisive section of the American public like no other political slogan ever had. As the Obama era, with all its hopes and dreams drew to a close, 'Make America Great Again' powerfully fabricated a promise to a vociferous, empowered contingent, inflamed some of the worst ceremonious unrest the USA has seen for decades – and played a crucial office in delivering the presidency to Donald Trump.

Two years later, President Trump is half-fashion through his offset (and possibly last) term as the domestic and international leader of the globe's biggest economy – and the fourth dimension has come up to re-evaluate the MAGA promise and draw some cardinal lessons.

'Brand America Neat Again' is a phrase that invites analysis from all angles – political, social, psychological, historical and more than. Merely what does MAGA hateful from the holistic perspective of storytelling? What tin can business leaders take from this extraordinary example of storytelling and leadership, and utilise positively to their own circumstances? How can concern leaders win the hearts and minds of their own people – at the same time as scrupulously leading towards a positive future for all?

Permit'south start with the words themselves – what part does each word play, and what is information technology about these words that make it such a powerful rallying cry?

Lesson i: Give your rallying cry a simple and empowering verb.

'Make' – it's interesting to annotation that the phrase does not start with 'Allow's' (more on that later). Instead, the phrase is a powerful directive to the private: emboldening rather than unifying. Every individual has a role to play in this rallying cry, and that's very empowering. And then the verb selection is excellent – it tells people what they demand to Exercise, and this is an essential element for any business organization rallying cry. When because your ain rallying weep, you need to ask yourself: what is the simple verb that essentially describes what nosotros want people to exercise?

Lesson ii: Identify the one or two stories that really define your business and refer directly to them.

'America'– this puts the whole phrase in a powerful, patriotic context. Information technology's a word that has been shown fourth dimension and time again to resonate with Americans in a manner that far exceeds the fashion British people reply to the word 'Great britain'.  Consider how many films take the word 'America' or 'American' in them… and in contrast, how many films that feature any other nation in the title. The word 'America' represents an entire mythology – and referring back to this is incredibly powerful storytelling.

While using 'America' in whatsoever championship has widely become a shortcut to interest and engagement in the USA, for businesses information technology'southward much more a case of a listening practise to identify what their own 'origin myths' are. Effectively, every business organization has its own language and stories from the past – stories that are meaningful to those that work there, and accept on bigger, iconic meaning. Simply put, it's critical for business leaders to use the language and stories of their own people in communications. America wasn't Trump'southward story – it was the American people'southward.

What's are your business's' origin myths? Find them and use the same linguistic communication in your rallying cry.

Lesson three: Gear up out an aggressive vision that doesn't undercut where we are today.

'Great'– the qualifier that sets the required goal. Necessarily vague (just usefully having the double meaning of both 'fantabulous' and 'big') and again, a elementary, memorable word that keeps the syntax tight. For businesses, getting this qualifier right is so important – information technology goes to the specific kind of 'good' that is sought, and inherently reveals the perception of where we are now.

Generally, the qualifier needs to reflect positively on where we are today, besides as speaking confidently to the heights we can attain tomorrow. As a business concern leader, if you're going to include any negative element in your rallying weep (whether implicit or explicit), it's so important to be thoroughly honest, clear and frank about any shortcomings that need to be addressed. By using the discussion 'Cracking' with all it'south negative implications in such an unqualified manner, Trump implied that America was not skilful enough without speaking to the measurable change that was needed. One can see today's unrest as a directly consequence from this. Shrewd electioneering – terrible leadership.

Qualify 'what good looks like' – and where there is a need to be critical, be utterly honest, transparent, and measurable about what the change looks similar.

Lesson iv: The rallying cry must speak but to the journey that a business is on.

'Again'– the most important and contentious word of the four. In terms of storytelling, this goes direct to one of the most powerful archetypal journeys: rebirth. Positioning his campaign as the resurrection of a better America, Trump aligned his candidacy with a narrative that spoke of returning to a better time.

By consistently aligning his rhetoric around this simple, key narrative, and condensing that narrative down to just four words, Trump powerfully used the principles of storytelling to audacious effect. He set out a journey for America to go along – and MAGA spoke straight to that journey.

The rebirth archetype is a powerful narrative that has precedent in the political sphere. Consider the memorable title of Nelson Mandela's autobiography: 'Long Walk to Freedom'. These words encapsulate the dramatic story of Mandela'due south story: the years in prison house, the return to the outside globe, and his quest to unite Due south Africa in freedom. Not just was it a story that grabbed the attention of the entire world, it remains one of the best-known political biographies – the fact that those four words speak so clearly to the rebirth narrative is surely i of the reasons why.

The key divergence between Mandela's resurrection narrative and Trump'south is that while Mandela's subsequent leadership fully focused on taking a divided state to a happier and more than united fourth dimension for all, Trump's leadership has focused almost wholly on using existing divisions for political gain. At that place is all the same time for Trump to turn things around – only as things stand up, it's difficult to envisage a better America postal service-Trump, and all likewise like shooting fish in a barrel to imagine ane that is actually worse as a upshot of his leadership.

Defining the journeying that your business is on is an essential function of business organization leadership. Understanding how this fits to the basic archetypal stories that feature again and once again in man life and art is disquisitional to how leaders speak conspicuously, confidently and concisely to the large shifts that demand to happen to achieve success.

When defining your own rallying cry, consider: what is the essential journeying that our business concern is on, and how tin can nosotros speak to this directly in our rallying cry?

Lesson 5: Understand the ascendant, and ofttimes unspoken, narrative

So Trump apparently uncovered a magical combination of words that spoke to the American people. Merely hither's the scoop: as a political slogan, 'Make America Great Again' is not new or original. Ronald Reagan used the same words as his official 1980 presidential campaign slogan, albeit with an inclusive 'Let's' at the beginning. Even Bill Clinton used the phrase in a 1992 voice communication – so this certainly wasn't a lesson in creativity from Trump. The phrase was already out there.

In terms of winning the election (interference and other subterfuge bated), the key deviation was that Trump really tapped into a cardinal dominant narrative in American culture. Namely, the swathes of white, lower-class Americans who had been bottling up disgruntlement, disenfranchisement and disaffection over many, many years. No-ane had truly spoken nigh this narrative, or to information technology – but Trump and his squad recognised this, and were able to communicate in a way that truly tapped into what for many people was an unspoken truth.

When we help our clients define their own rallying cries, it'south then important to actually understand where their business is today. It's i thing to define a strategic narrative and create a slogan that matches it – only information technology's only past speaking to the current mood in the business that storytelling can generate renewed engagement and action.

So the question is: what is the ascendant, unspoken narrative in your business organisation, today?

Lesson 6: Think carefully nigh where your rallying cry is manifested – and try to make it physically iconic.

So far, we've simply discussed MAGA in terms of the words themselves, the historical context, and how Trump deliberately created a powerful narrative that those words directly spoke to. But when information technology comes to designing a successful rallying weep, thinking about the physical space in which the slogan is manifested is just equally of import.

Purely in political terms, the MAGA baseball cap was a stroke of genius. Clothing, conspicuously identifiable with the Republican party, pointing to an everyman image, cheap to reproduce and buy… and worn with formidable frequency by Trump himself. The MAGA cap has become a divisive icon of all that Trump represents, but from a design perspective it's simply brilliant.

In that location's a very simple lesson for businesses here: information technology's non enough to just accept the words of a rallying cry. Information technology's not enough to use them on printed materials or at one-off events. And so often, businesses overlook the power of ambient pattern – any campaign must champion and celebrate the central messages, and making sure that this happens in physical infinite is another essential lesson from the MAGA campaign.

Where are the physical spaces in your own business – and how tin can you bring the story to them, and make it alive in their mean solar day to day?

Lesson 7: Use storytelling to deliver purpose, management and fulfilment

MAGA was undoubtedly a successful campaign. When it came to making a rallying cry successful, Trump and his team overachieved, scoring a result that few political experts thought possible. When information technology comes to businesses coming up with their own rallying cries, there is clearly a lot that can be learned here about how to engage large and diverse populations in a motility for modify.

Simply the divisiveness of Trump'south leadership raises serious questions virtually how storytelling ought to be used. Nosotros are widely held to be living in the post-truth age, and Trump with his MAGA cap is undoubtedly the poster male child of this. So, is it even ok to use rallying cries whatsoever more, and use the power of storytelling to engage people?

Firstly, the fact of the matter is that America generally does not experience that Trump is making it not bad again. Trump's approval ratings are the everyman of any US President post WWII, and that is something that no amount of campaigning or catchy slogans tin can hide. It's all well and skilful making promises, but what we currently see is a President holding back a very large tide of reality. Storytelling tin help yous be a more compelling, engaging and clear leader – but information technology cannot and should not ever be used to pull the wool over people'due south eyes.

As a business leader, use storytelling and strategic narratives as a sincere, honest opportunity to progressively unite a leadership team behind a positive vision of the future – not to mask failures and inadequacies.

Lesson 8: Storytelling is the most important tool for empathy nosotros have – allow'south not degrade information technology.

The final lesson is perhaps the most important i, and where we demand to be more emphatic than ever.

All around the world, leaders accept a responsibility to use the ability of storytelling towards a better hereafter. From bedtime stories to Netflix box sets, stories are how we interpret the world, make sense of information technology, and have our cues for how to behave in it. In a higher place all, it's the about important tool for empathy that we take – and every bit nosotros collectively navigate a world of increasingly complex challenges, we need storytelling more than ever to help united states relate to each other beyond strange new boundaries.

Even so, it was clear from Trump'due south narrative that the new America he promised was not for everyone – and this wretched worldview has been borne out in his post-election decision-making and rhetoric. He may have got the technical aspects of storytelling and a good rallying cry spot on – but his words have deliberately appealed to a latent discrimination, racism and fearfulness in America, and this was purely for personal and political gain. Equally we await dorsum on 2 years of utter chaos, hate and fearfulness, it's impossible to conclude that Trump has delivered, every bit a leader, on those promises.

Every bit business leaders, information technology's and then of import to inspire without overreaching. Finding that happy medium is a challenge – but here at The Storytellers, it's one nosotros're used to. Past defining an agreed strategic narrative, ensuring that the human value of the story is loud and clear, and creating a rallying cry that is both inspiring AND real, these are pitfalls that can be avoided.

Ultimately, storytelling is an enormously powerful mode to engage hearts and minds. The potential that a deftly created narrative and a well-chosen rallying cry have to create real change on a mass scale continues to surprise the world – merely in that location is a science to this that can be learned.

At The Storytellers, we are well aware of this power, and work closely with concern leaders to ascertain strategic narratives, rallying cries and powerful campaigns that engage whole organisations and brand better leaders. By seeing storytelling as the perfect alchemy of logos, desolation and ethos, and by accepting our responsibilities equally leaders in this, we truly can make storytelling great again.

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Source: https://thestorytellers.com/make-storytelling-great-again/

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