Grant Stanley Consulting

A powerful way to develop creative solutions is with storytelling.  Today companies are looking for ways to solve problems using creative processes. Creative storytelling offers significant benefits to every company. This process is not only much more rewarding for everyone involved , it actually produces more innovative and longer lasting results.   Here are just a few of the reasons why storytelling can help your company to develop collaborative solutions that deliver a genuine return on investment. Creativity and Ideas Generation Creative thinking in business yields measurable results. A culture of creativity within an organisation fosters idea generation and nurtures innovation. A co-creation process involves more people, which in turn generates more ideas. These people can include employees, customers and the wider community. Ideas that are developed within this group inform the story behind your business and your brand. Make use of the experiences of these pe...

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”                                 George S. Patton Although this is relevant to many walks of life, this is particularly relevant to sales leaders who, as activists and experienced sales professionals in their own right, often tell people what to do because they (like their people) have fast minds and feel that they always need to have the answer. “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.”                                 Zig Ziglar This quote is highly relevant to a sales or sales leadership role. It is effective because it brings...

All great leaders communicate with maximum impact and regularly get their people (either physically or virtually) to give them direction, keep them informed, inspire them, motivate them and engage them to commit to achieving success at both the individual and team level. Competent sales people typically have fast minds. They like a mental challenge, they enjoy new ways of looking at the world and they are activists. They are also extroverts, they want to be entertained, they want to be successful and they want recognition for their success. All of these attributes mean that being successful at leading a sales force can be a real challenge and requires an ability to use every communication to inspire and motivate their people to step up to the challenge, at both the individual and team level. This means that great sales leaders need to be great communicators. They need to ensure that all of their communications are ‘high impact’. A critical element of any leader’s tool-kit is the ...

A navy pilot completed hundreds of hours of training and then flew dozens of combat missions. He shot down dozens of enemy planes, bombed many targets, and earned a chest full of medals, along with higher ranks. He was quite prooud of his accomplishments. On one mission, a crucial piloting error allowed an enemy missile to disable his jet and he was forced to bail out. His parachute deployed and he landed safely in the ocean. As he floated for two days waiting to be rescued he had plenty of time to think back over his career. When the helicoptor finally picked him up and returned him to his ship, he went directly to the flight equipment room. He asked to speak with all the sailors that worked there. When they were all assembled, he thanked them for packing his parachute. He explained that it took being shot down to make him understand how much he took for granted the labors of others that made his job possible - the mechanics, the flight crew, the cooks, and even the parach...

Often, we hear people asking someone to 'Step Up' to a challenge that needs to be done. Stepping Up means that you have accepted the responsibility, not of Starting that job, but of Finishing it. Before you stepped up, you were in a comfortable position, no stress, no effort being put out - kind of like just standing here. You could stand here for an hour easily. You aren't getting anywhere, but it's easy. Once you 'Step Up' to a challenge, it is no longer comfortable. Others now expect you to perform. You have work to do and it may be difficult. It's like Stepping Up onto this chair. (step one foot onto the chair seat, keeping only the toes of the other foot on the floor) This is a difficult position. It isn't comfortable. I haven't accomplished anything and I can't stay here long. I have to do something. So, I 'Follow Through' - I complete all the work required for the task and I do what I said I would do. (stand with both feet ...

Don't miss the boat. Remember we're all in the same boat. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. Build your future on high ground. Use the buddy system. Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. When you're stressed, float a while. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Some of you probably have outdoor clothing you wear that is made from Polartech or Polarfleece material. The company that makes these materials is called Malden Mills. The owner of the company is a deeply religious man of the Jewish faith named Aaron Feuerstein. On December 31, 1995, his factory caught fire and burned to the ground. The factory employed 3,400 workers and was the main employer for two neighbouring towns. The area once had many mills but most had closed and moved to areas where they could pay people less money to work. Mr Feuerstein felt that people should be paid a decent wage and so he wouldn't move his factory. The fire occurred on his 70th birthday. The workers believed it was the end of the line for their jobs. Surely, Mr Feuerstein would take the $300 million in insurance money and call it quits. While the smoke was still rising from the charred remains of the fire, Mr Feuerstein called his workers together at a school gymnasium and spoke to them. They w...

Have any of you travelled to Europe? I was fortunate to spend 40 days with a backpack travelling from country to country. I met a young man from Switzerland and we became friends so I visited his family's home towards the end of my trip. It was quite interesting when I tried to speak with his father because his native language was Italian and I spoke no Italian. Fortunately, we discovered that we each spoke a little French so we used that common ground to communicate. I also noticed he had Algebra books on his shelf because he was a teacher but they were written in Italian! It didn't matter much though because I could understand the formulas since math is the same everywhere. I had a fun few hours talking about math with a Swiss man because we found common interest and common language. It sometimes takes extra effort, but I challenge you to find what you have in common with others instead of the obvious things that are different and see what happens.

One day in a high school Economics class, a teacher handed out a 10 question quiz. All the questions were true/false or multiple choice questions so it was a pretty easy quiz. The last question was: 'Choose the first name of the person that cleans the school.' with 5 names listed. They had seen the janitor in the halls often. They figure he was about 60, probably 5ft. 9in., and wore glasses. Other than that, They didn't know anything about him, let alone his first name. So, when they turned in their quizzes, they asked the teacher if the last question was just a joke or what? He said the question was worth 10% of the quiz. The other students voiced their opinion that it wasn't a fair question - "how are we supposed to know the guy's name? " The teacher replied that in whatever careers we choose we will meet many, many people. Every one of them is significant. Each deserves your attention and care, no matter their position or how it benefits you. E...

The boss drives his men; the leader coaches them. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says "I"; the leader says "We". The boss assigns tasks; the leader sets the pace. The boss says "Get here on time!"; the leader gets there ahead of time. The boss fixes blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss knows how it's done; the leader shows how. The boss makes work a drudgery; the leader makes it a game. The boss says "Go!"; the leader says "Let's go!" The world needs leaders, but nobody wants a boss.

When Mr Smith came home from work, little Johnny ran up to him and asked, "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?" Very tired from a long day, Mr Smith replied, "Come on, Johnny, I need to just relax for a minute. Ask me later." After dinner, Johnny came up to his Dad again, "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?" "Johnny, it's not polite to ask people how much they make. But, I make thirty pounds an hour. Why do you want to know?" "OK, Daddy. Could you loan me 15 pounds?" "What? You just wanted to know what I made so you could ask for some? Go to your room!" After awhile, and feeling guilty for getting upset, Mr Smith went to check on his son. He thought, "Maybe I was too harsh. Maybe Johnny wants to buy something." Opening Johnny's door, Mr Smith said "Johnny, here, I have the 15 pounds you asked for." "Really?!? Thanks, Daddy!" Johnny took the money and opened his little saving...

People, the postage stamp you see on any envelope is given the job of making sure that this important piece of mail was delivered to you. The stamp is pretty small but, in spite of its size, it did the job. Each of you has the responsibility of "delivering the mail" in order that your group becomes a success. Like the postage stamp, it isn't your size that determines how well you do the job, rather, how well you stick to it. We can't all be good at all things. Some are better at physical skills, some at mental tasks. Remember the stamp. It did the job in spite of its size by sticking to the job. Make up your mind that you can do the same thing. Just determine to do your best - and stick to it until the job is done.

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom ruled by a pretty good king. And, through this kingdom, there was a road. And, on this road, there was a big rock right in the middle of the road. One of the king's embassadors returning from a trip complained about how the kingdom was going to pot and rode his horse around the rock. A rich merchant came by and complained about the delay as his driver slowly edged around the rock and hurried on. A countess in her carriage whined that the king should take better care of the road system. Many other people came by and went around the rock throughout the day. Then, a poor peasant came by carrying a large load of vegetables he hoped to sell in the market. When he approached the rock, he set down his burden. He pushed and pulled at the rock until he finally got it moved to the side of the road. Where the rock had been was a leather purse. The peasant opened it and saw many gold coins and a note. The note read, "These coins are ...