The Corporate Storyteller

"The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths," says Tom Rath in his most recent book, Strengths Based Leadership. "In the workplace, when an organization's leadership fails to focus on individuals' strengths, the odds of an employee being engaged are a dismal 1 in 11 (9%).

But, he continues, "When an organization's leadership focuses on the strengths of its employees, the odds soar to almost 3 in 4 (73%). And when leaders focus on and invest in their employees' strengths, the odds of each person being engaged go up eightfold."

Where is your focus? When you communicate with your workforce, do you concentrate on telling stories of what needs to be improved--or do you showcase people's strengths?

To achieve greater employee engagement and productivity, follow Rath's advice by highlighting the successes of "people caught doing things right." Storytelling is the ideal vehicle. A good story draws attention to powerful examples of the behavior you want and implicitly teaches people how to succeed in your organization.