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PRAISE FOR WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
“This is a smart book, an important book and a book you need to read. If your message isn’t getting through, here’s why.”
—SETH GODIN, author, All Marketers Are Liars
“Storytelling is becoming more and more recognized as a critical element of great leadership. Craig is at the leading edge of this very important trend. The book not only provides the context of why storytelling is so important but, more important, provides the tools to help anyone put storytelling into practice today.”
—BRIAN J. MCNAMARA, Senior Vice President/NA Region Head, Novartis OTC
“A great reminder that all businesses are ‘people businesses.’ In today’s fast-paced techno-world, it’s easy to get caught in rapid responses vs. relationship building. If you want people to remember you, slow down and read this book.”
—BOB TORKELSON, President and COO, Trinchero Family Estates
“The story is the most powerful tool of the effective communicator, and in this book you’ll learn more than you ever imagined about effectively using stories. Craig Wortmann delivers in a book that is chock full of insights and great ideas.”
—MARK SANBORN, Author of The Fred Factor and You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader
“This is a very valuable book on the power of telling stories to create personal and organizational change. I highly recommend it.”
—JACK CANFIELD, Coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Soul® series and The Success Principles™
In What’s Your Story? Using Stories to Ignite Performance and Be More Successful, author, entrepreneur, and master storyteller Craig Wortmann demonstrates the powerful impact stories have on the three most common performance challenges—leadership, strategic selling, and motivation.
While the technique of telling stories is the oldest form of communication—it’s also the one form that rises above the din of our information-saturated environment and delivers messages in a way that connects with people, bringing ideas to life and making them actionable and memorable.
Leaders at all levels learn how to use the toolset developed in this book—the Win Book, Story Matrix, and Story Coach—to capture and tell the right stories at the right time to inspire their own performance and the performance of the those around them. Through real-life scenarios, illustrations, quotations, tools, and examples, Wortmann guides you through the process of uncovering your stories.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
First Edition: 2006
Published by Kaplan Publishing, a division of Kaplan, Inc.
Typesetter and Cover Designer: Renata Graw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wortmann, Craig.
What’s your story? : using stories to ignite performance and be more successful/Craig Wortmann.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4195-3556-7
ISBN-10: 1-4195-3556-0
1. Communication organizations. 2. Storytelling. 3. Leadership. I. Title.
HD30.3.W67 2006
658.4’5--dc22
2006015549
06 07 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Second Edition: 2012
Published by Sales Engine, Evanston, IL
Type and Graphics Editing: Wendy Ruel, IPM Group, Inc., Overland Park, KS
ISBN-13: 978-0-9853253-0-5
© 2006, 2012 by Craig Wortmann
All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
This book is available at special quantity discounts to use for sales promotions, employee premiums, or educational purposes. For more information, contact [email protected] or Sales Engine, 1555 Sherman Avenue Suite 220, Evanston, Illinois 60201
Craig Wortmann is an entrepreneur and three-time CEO who speaks to and motivates audiences all over the world on the topics of Entrepreneurship & Sales, Storytelling and Leadership. He motivates, inspires and delights on these topics bringing them to life through the powerful stories he tells. Craig transfers his knowledge through coaching and the application of tools he has developed that underlie high performance and drive success for leaders in each of these areas.
Craig is the Founder and CEO of Sales Engine, a firm that helps companies build and tune their sales engine. Previously, Craig was recruited to join start-up WisdomTools as CEO, which he ran, grew and then successfully sold to a larger firm. And then he did it again. As the CEO of ClearGauge, an interactive marketing and web strategy firm, Craig executed a turnaround and high-valuation sale by building the sales engine, developing a new web presence, and cutting costs.
Craig is a clinical professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he teaches Building the New Venture and Entrepreneurial Selling, an Inc. Magazine Award-Winning “Top Ten” course. Craig also designed and teaches a course called Personal Leadership Insights that looks at the knowledge, skills and discipline that serve as a foundation for developing one’s own leadership capital.
Craig lives in Evanston with his wife, two children and their dog, Mr Chips.
DEDICATION
To my parents, Jeanine and Donald Wortmann. Mom, your love and persistent coaching helped my find my own voice. And Dad, you are simply the greatest man I’ve ever known.
If, in the final analysis, I have been one-tenth the parent that each of you has been, I will have succeeded.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My wife, Jill Wortmann, is the reason this book exists. Jill, you encouraged me to get these ideas out there, and you helped to drive this effort from start to finish. Thank you so much for your support, your help in thinking things through, your time spent reading draft after draft, your incisive editing, and most of all for your belief.
I also want to thank two other smart and talented women who bravely read the first draft: my friends Lisa Schumacher and Kara Cardinale. As first drafts go, this thing was really scary. But you persevered, and your suggestions were invaluable. This book is clearer, tighter, and just a lot better thanks to you two.
Between being a dad and husband, writing this book, and running a small company, my schedule was a little nuts for the better part of a year. And there was very little time for fun diversions. So, I also want to thank a very special group of guys, all from one extended family—the Skalinders and Anichs. Gents, thank you sincerely for letting me, a nonrelative, join your ‘BNO’ team, and for giving me a much-needed break right in the middle of an otherwise hectic week.
Many thanks to the incredible team at Kaplan Publishing. Thanks to you all, this experience has been an incredible learning journey for me. Thank you so much for your patience, your support, your powerful ideas, and your enthusiasm.