Leadership as storytelling – Rome 

In Rome, we “benchmark” ourselves with a time that was a hotbed of great leaders, not because they were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but because they had learned a realpolitik lesson about what works in leadership. These leaders are still being written about by today’s leaders, and we will see that what they learned is in astonishing agreement with what modern theories of leadership say.

The power of storytelling focuses on what underlies extreme performance in turbulent times of change. The myth links great change leaders to the few divinely gifted individuals who change history. In reality, such great leadership is neither rare nor mysterious. Viewing the leader as a storyteller highlights an exceptional form of results-based leadership. Results are based on several qualities in the leader: the ability to analyze situations in a realpolitik way, to create meaning for one’s followers, the skill of communicating fundamental values, and not least the willingness to believe in and live this out through one’s own life. This is where some leaders stand out from many others.

They stand as living examples of the fundamental idea by which the community should be governed. They succeed or fail to the extent that they understand and adapt their narrative to the larger narrative, which in this case is Rome itself. 

The stories are powerful. Through theoretical perspectives and the history of Rome, we adapt the seminar to your organization’s needs. It can be a seminar where the narrative of the organization is to be perfected, where the leadership team will design their genuine change narrative or a seminar where one focuses on the individual’s leadership narrative – thereby building a strong foundation for authenticity, strength of character and resilience.