10/25/2024

Five Steps to Foster Competition via Storytelling

Use storytelling to inspire healthy competition and growth

The corporate world loves buzzwords and slide decks. Words like “synergy” and “alignment” fly around in meetings as if they have some magical power to motivate people. But if you want to inspire people to drive real change, there’s a secret weapon that works every time: storytelling. Yes, good old-fashioned storytelling — the kind that gets people talking, connects teams and, believe it or not, fosters a little healthy competition. 

Why stories ignite change 

Competition doesn't have to foster a fierce rivalry to be effective. In fact, a little friendly competition fuels growth and innovation. When one department excels, it lights a fire under others to match or exceed that level of performance. But you can't just announce, “Hey, everyone, look how great this team did!” and expect everyone to care. The trick is in how you present those wins — through relatable stories that inspire action. 

Here’s what that looked like for one of our clients. The marketing department had been struggling — campaign delays, missed deadlines and dropping sales were the norm. After implementing some fine-tuned yet simple improvements, everything changed. They launched campaigns three weeks ahead of schedule and achieved a dramatic 25 percent increase in leads. But instead of simply putting together a report or a slide deck, we taught them how to talk about their wins in a way that got everyone’s attention. When that story got around, it wasn’t just a set of numbers — it was a relatable, engaging example that set the bar for other teams to reach. 

Please select this link to read the complete article from SmartBrief.