storytelling

Today is my 20th year in business. My company Spoke was incorporated on June 11, 2004.

Wow, what a ride since then.

Vowing to never be an employee again was the best decision of my working life.

I relish every moment of it, even the tough times.

There have been many ups and downs, but what has remained clear is that I can take full responsibility for every up and every down, and my own response.

Just after I quit my management role to start the business, the ever-wise executive assistant to my director said: “Andrew, I always thought you were far too entrepreneurial for this role!” It is one of the greatest compliments I have ever received.

I had no idea how radically my mindset would shift, leaving the shackles and rat race of being an employee.

More than anything else, learning to roll with the unexpected and the uncertain has been key.

The very first day I sat down to create my brand, things did not go according to plan. A good friend and colleague, a master of PR and marketing, was going to meet me at a cafe to brainstorm. They were a no-show. I was disappointed in the moment, though later found out that sadly they had been assaulted the night before.

When they didn’t show up, I thought ‘I’ve got this.’

I was sitting in the courtyard of a Kingsland cafe, the sky was blue, and bright crimson bougainvillea was spilling down the side of the fence beside me. I was eating a tasty buckwheat galette, and a cup of cider. The cafe followed a tradition from Brittany in France, where cider is served in a teacup. It was a delicious accompaniment to the galette. It was a lovely moment.

I looked out at that blue sky and started to doodle on a notepad. It was then that the word ‘Spoke’ came to mind as apt for my business in communication, media and facilitation. It could be a company name, a logo, and a metaphor representing connection with multiple people like the spoke of a wheel. It also evoked ‘bespoke’, the tailoring of my services, and what I was offering: to enable people to be seen and heard, to have spoken.

Spoke’s purpose, and I now realise this has been my purpose all my life, is Connecting Humanity.

I was keen to keep it simple; I had no capital, no office. So I just registered the company, registered for GST, got a former student and colleague graphic designer to make me a logo and a card, and that was it. Metaphorically, I simply put my plaque up and said I was in business.

And that was it. Soon, contracts started tumbling in out of the blue, and I have never looked back.

Spoke has taken me to all corners of the world, and to all corners of Aotearoa New Zealand.

I’ve sat beside my own infinity pool in Bali writing my book The Weave, I’ve swum up stream from crocodiles in Arnhemland on a business development retreat, I’ve played kōauau to an audience of millions in New Delhi, and I’ve spoken at conferences and workshops from New York City to Darwin, from Sydney to Queenstown. I’ve jammed with the kōkako songbirds in the Hunua forest, attended sacred wānanga in obscure corners of Te Tai Tokerau, helicopters around Ngaruahoe and the Tongariro crossing.

I’ve advised some of Aotearoa’s most renowned leaders, and supported some people in their simple day-to-day endeavours.

With colleagues and whānau, I have made apps, videos, books, workshops. We have mentored and coached CEOs, budding entrepreneurs, managers, rangatahi, whānau, neurodiverse communities, people of many genders and ages.

What an amazing time.

And we’ve made some amazing products, mostly books, workshops, and coaching programmes.

Just in the last year, we’ve delivered a range of Story Mojo and Story Masterclasses, Weave facilitation workshops, All In and New Turn mentoring programmes, and many others. The latest offering coming up is Space. It is a book and a workshop, looking at how we can create space for ourselves and others, in work, life and leadership… to be continued…

Have I made it? Am I rich? Well it depends how you define these things. I don’t think ‘making it’ is a concept I adhere to. It sounds too finite. I consider I am perhaps at the half way point, reflecting on the next 20 years in business. My dear mother was still working, largely by choice, at 80. I have several friends loving their work in their 80s. I intend to do the same.

As to being rich? Financially no, it comes and goes, by choice. But rich in experience, heart, spirit and adventure? 100%.

Never before in recent history have the communication skills of leaders been more important.

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the world in early 2020, people from every walk of life and in every corner of the globe have struggled to understand what on earth was going on. We had no framework, no reference point, no practiced skills, knowledge or experience to navigate a pandemic that would rend the very fabric of our communities.

The shock and the fear was deep and wide. The shock waves and trauma are still around and going nowhere soon.

Households and workplaces scrambled hungrily for information from any source; what was really going on? Whose information could we trust? Social media, news media, our friends, our families, political or workplace leaders, our spiritual leaders, our fathers, our mothers, our sons or daughters? How could we tell what was true? Even now, what sources do we trust?
Can we trust science? Who has a hidden agenda?

Sharply contrasting communication styles have emerged. There was blame, attack, metaphors about battles, fights and war. There were also appeals to calm, unity and working together, metaphors such as ‘bubbles’. New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, whether you agree with her politics or not, was lauded by leaders from the right and the left for her excellent communication skills, and these centred around her powerful use of metaphor to tell a story.

Research shows on average we all use up to six metaphors every minute every day. Our lives and our communication is (to use yet another metaphor) riddled with metaphor.

They can have immense power and influence. Neuroscientists have found that substituting power verbs and metaphors can dramatically influence us in our experiences and decision making and how we see the truth. For example if we substitute the world ‘collision’ for ‘smash’ when witnessing a car ‘incident’ people’s estimates of how fast a vehicle is travelling can change dramatically. If the word ‘smash’ is used people estimate a higher speed, if the word collision is used they estimate a lower speed, unconsciously. As we are awash (another metaphor again for drama and emphasis!) with endless notifications across social news media, TV, radio, audio, video, politicians, community leaders, neighbours and friends, navigating what is true and what is not is immensely challenging.

Sometimes even what might appear to be quite harmless metaphors can create fear and disempower. Talk of ‘waves’ of the pandemic can give a sense that it will be a never-ending force with no end. Contrast this with the use of a metaphor like ‘fire-fighting’ which can enable people to fell they have a sense of control over something that can be overcome.

There are pluses and minuses with the use of all metaphors. The most important thing is to be aware of their power and how you use them, and to change and adapt them for different circumstances.

Building story mojo with the use of metaphor is now a key tool in a 21st century leader’s tool kit.

There is an onus like never before on leaders to reflect deeply and clearly on the language they use, the stories they tell. What metaphors and stories are you using? Will they create fear, or calm? Will they call people to action, or disempower them?

In my upcoming workshop Story Mojo: Story Telling for Authentic Leadership we will explore metaphor and storytelling in depth. Join us to take your leadership communication to another level. http://www.andrewmelville.com/workshops/

ANDREW MELVILLE

Spoke Turns 20

Building Story Mojo – Leadership in a Pandemic Age