Storytelling isn't just for old folks and kids. It can help you move forward in your career - both by showing what you've accomplished and by persuading employees to trust you.
講故事可不是老人和小孩的專利,它可以在事業上助你一臂之力——你可以借此向大家展示你取得的成績,還能用這種方法獲得員工的信任。
Marriott International's Ed Fuller loves to tell stories. One of his favorites is set at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in 1985, where he was general manager. Just a month after it opened, catering sales were $300,000 below budget. "My career is lost," Fuller recalls thinking after a senior executive called and said, "I can't believe it. Bill Marriott is beside himself." The executive said he was flying to Boston and asked Fuller to dinner after "we deal with the problem."
萬豪國際(Marriott International)的富毅榮(Ed Fuller)熱衷于講故事。他最津津樂道的故事之一,發生在1985年的波士頓萬豪考潑利廣場酒店(Marriott Copley Place),那時他在酒店任總經理。就在酒店開業一個月后,餐飲銷售額比預算低了30萬美元。當時,一位高級主管給他打電話說:“太難以置信了,比爾•馬里奧特(萬豪董事長兼首席執行官——譯注)正大發雷霆。”那位高管還說他正在飛往波士頓的途中,希望在“我們處理完問題”之后與富毅榮共進晚餐。富毅榮回憶道,當時他想:“我的職業生涯完蛋了。”
The "issue," it turned out, was not what Fuller had feared. A Marriott family member had ordered clam chowder; it arrived cold, and the manager hadn't handled it well. That -- not the stumbles of a new boss -- was what Marriott (MAR) cared about. "If [the family] is treated badly, we assume the customer is treated worse," said Fuller, now head of international lodging for Marriott International and author of a book of workplace stories, You Can't Lead With Your Feet on Your Desk, due out next year.
后來富毅榮發現,自己過慮了,那位高管所說的“問題”是,馬里奧特家族的一位成員點了碗蛤蜊濃湯,端上來的時候湯已經涼了,而經理沒有很好地處理這個問題。也就是說,萬豪集團在意的是上面這種問題,而不是新上任的管理者出點什么小錯。富毅榮說:“我們可以推想,如果連馬里奧特家族的人都招待不好,對其他客人的招待只會更差。” 富毅榮現任萬豪集團旗下國際酒店負責人,著有一本關于職場的書,名為《不腳踏實地就無法領先》(You Can't Lead With Your Feet on Your Desk),這本書將于明年出版發行。
Fuller uses that story -- and others -- to teach new managers about Marriott's priorities: serving the customer well, and serving its chowder hot. He also uses storytelling to teach about career advancement, such as the tale of how he and another senior exec started as a security guard and waiter. "They want to see actual examples," Fuller says, noting that 60% of Marriott's hotel managers started as hourly workers. "Storytelling has made me more effective in doing my job."
富毅榮用一系列的故事,向新的管理人員介紹萬豪集團看重的事情:為客戶提供出色的服務,確保端上來的蛤蜊濃湯是熱騰騰的。他也通過講故事來傳授職場升遷的心得,比如他和另一位高管是如何從保安和服務生做起的。富毅榮說:“人們喜歡聽到現實生活中的例子。”他注意到,60%的萬豪酒店經理是從按小時計費的低級崗位做起的。他還表示:“通過講故事,我的工作效率更高了。