Why Storytelling is the Most Underrated Leadership Skill

Years ago, I sat in a classroom struggling to understand science. The concepts felt heavy, the formulas abstract, and no matter how many notes I took, the subject refused to stick.

Then something changed. My science teacher stopped teaching from the textbook and started teaching through stories. Suddenly, molecules weren’t just diagrams — they were characters in a drama, colliding, bonding, and reacting. Physics wasn’t just theory — it was the story of how the world around us worked.

For the first time, I could see science. I could imagine it, feel it, connect with it. And that’s when I realised something that has stayed with me to this day: storytelling makes knowledge come alive.

That teacher was, in my eyes, a true leader. Because leadership isn’t just about delivering facts — it’s about making people believe, see, and connect.

That lesson stayed with me.

Fast forward to today, and I see the same principle everywhere.

In project delivery, a plan can look like a wall of tasks and deadlines. But the moment you frame it as a story — the challenge we’re solving, the journey we’re taking, the impact we’ll create — people engage differently. They don’t just “do the work.” They see themselves as part of something bigger.

In my community work, I once felt distant from rituals and culture. They seemed like obligations on a calendar. But the moment I began to uncover the stories behind them — why a tradition started, what values it carried, what it meant for people before me — it transformed. Culture stopped being a duty and started becoming identity.

Even at home, with my children, I see the same magic. Instructions rarely stick. But when I share a story — of resilience, of kindness, of courage — they not only listen, they absorb the values within it.

Leadership, whether at work, at home, or in society, the same truth applies: data might convince the mind, but stories capture the heart. And people follow not just plans, but purpose.

We live in a world flooded with information. Reports, dashboards, numbers — they all have their place. But they rarely inspire action on their own.

Stories, however, create something more powerful:

• Connection – they help us relate to each other as humans.

• Empathy – they let us feel what someone else feels.

• Vision – they help us imagine a future worth striving for.

The leaders who stand out are not just the ones with the best strategies or the most data. They are the ones who can tell the story of why their work matters, who it impacts, and where it can take us.

And this isn’t limited to boardrooms. Teachers, parents, community builders, even friends — all of us have the chance to lead through storytelling.

So let me leave you with a question: Think of one story that changed how you saw the world. What was it, and how has it shaped you?

Because when we share our stories, we don’t just pass on knowledge — we pass on meaning. And that, I believe, is the essence of true leadership.