Episode 69 |The Power of Using Narratives to Lead Teams with Jevon Wooden

 Jevon Wooden  00:00

For me, storytelling is everything. I always say that, you know, stats, tell a story sell, right. And as humans, not even as leaders alone, we’re always selling something, whether we’re selling our ideas, we’re selling ourselves to our spouses, our friends, our significant others. You know, we’re selling other companies, whatever the case may be, we’re always selling.

Voiceover  00:23

Welcome to the “Lead at the Top of Your Game” podcast, where we equip you to more effectively lead your seat at any employer, business, or industry in which you choose to play. Each week, we help you sharpen your leadership acumen by cracking open the playbooks of dynamic leaders who are doing big things in their professional endeavors. And now, your host, leadership tactics, and organizational development expert, Karan Ferrell-Rhodes.

Karan Rhodes  00:58

Hey there superstars This is Karan, and thanks for joining another episode designed to help you better Lead at the Top of Your Game. Now, as you know, for season three each month we’re featuring leaders who have interesting roles in a particular profession or industry. And today’s episode is part of our special series. It’s featuring the perspectives of leadership coaches who focus on a particular angle of leadership and on today’s show, we’re featuring an expert who helps leaders use story narratives. to uplevel individual and team performance we’re honored to have Jevon Wooden founder of Brightmind Consulting Group, and Javon is the epitome of a voracious learner, who uses his new experiences to open doors which may not have ever been obvious before. He’s used his military background in tech to launch a pursuit of both MBA and a master’s degree in cybersecurity. And then he also nurtured his fascination about the power of leadership when he started his firm, Brightmind Consulting Group and in my opinion, they’re differentiating advantage is their ability to take a step back from the data and analytics that what has envolved in at companies in order to more effectively figure out the root causes of problems. And then he uses leadership approaches to discover the most viable solutions for his clients. And, you know, his abilities are just off the charts. Now in particular, I want you to listen deeply to his entry into our Leadership Playbook, where he shares his model on how to best use storytelling narratives to inspire and influence others to take action. Now also remember to stay tuned for just two minutes after the episode to listen to my closing segment called Karan’s Take, where I share a tip on how to use insights from today’s episode to further sharpen your leadership acumen. And now, enjoy the show. Hey, there, superstars, this is Karan and welcome to another episode of the Lead at the Top of Your Game podcast. You know, one of the important aspects of leadership is building a narrative that others can understand your story what you’re trying to do, and that is inspirational in a way that will compel them to follow you. And I am just tickled pink to have on today’s show, a guest that’s going to give us some insights on that and how to do it. As you know, we’re all about leadership execution, really understanding what leadership in action truly means. So this individual has a framework, has done a lot of thought leadership in this space. And I’m super honored to have him as our guests on today’s show. So we’re so pleased to have Jevon Wooden, he’s the founder of Brightmind Consulting Group. And he has done you know, more in just a few years than most of us do in a lifetime. But I’m honored to share that he has an MBA and a master’s degree in cybersecurity, but he was also a service for 12 years. So to me truly thank him for our service. But he use both his education, his experience in the military, and a lot of the resources to hone his expertise in all aspects of leadership and peak performance under the highest possible stakes. And we all know when you’re leading at the top of your game, usually there’s high stakes involved. So without further ado, let’s formally welcome Jevon Wooden to the podcast. Welcome, Jevon.

Jevon Wooden  04:26

Hey, it’s a pleasure to be here, Karan. Thanks for having me. And I’m excited for this conversation.

Karan Rhodes  04:30

Oh, I am too I am too. Now before we dive into all of that introduction, which is quite quite meaty if I do say so myself. We’d love to give you just a little time to share a small bit about you. So as far as much as you feel comfortable, would you should give us a sneak peek into maybe your personal life and passions?

Jevon Wooden  04:50

Absolutely. I grew up in Rochester, New York. I’m the middle child of five these days. What I love to do when I’m not working, which, you know, I try to get a lot of that time I spend time my family. I have a lovely fiancee, we’re getting married in September, not sure when this will drop. Temperatures are date, we also have a little bundle of joy. We have a bundle of joy coming, her name is Javon. So I have her as well. And then my dog, my dog’s name is Hachi. He’s my fur baby. That’s my first baby. So I just like to spend time with them. I love to travel, you know, try to get out of this, you know, the states as much as possible and experience different cultures, especially through food. And that’s me in a nutshell.

Karan Rhodes  05:30

Oh my god, I think we’re a sister and brother from another mother. I can just say ditto and keep it going for that not getting married, already married. Got that one. Dog and the passions and the travel. Were right there.

Jevon Wooden  05:43

That’s awesome. I love it. I think everyone should experienced that, you know, some some travel in their life for sure.

Karan Rhodes  05:48

Absolutely. I have traveled to over 35 countries and, but have tons more to go to experience. But I’m like you I like to get past the touristy areas, something I like them to pass it touristy areas to really dive deep in cultures and learn more about people in I think you probably can agree that we’re more alike than different all over the world.

Jevon Wooden  06:09

For sure. Absolutely. That’s the beauty of it, you get to see that the differences are so different, right?

Karan Rhodes  06:16

Yes, I still amazing that, you know, I spent about two and a half weeks in Beijing, before the pandemic only knew maybe two words of mandarin, and was able to go all over, you know, Beijing, even in the in the remote areas and still be able to communicate. So that is a high five to verbal communications, because we find a way to communicate very easy.

Jevon Wooden  06:43

100%! I mean, most of our communication is nonverbal anyway. So

Karan Rhodes  06:47

It definitely is. And he is amazing what you understand if you just active Listen, right? And watch gestures and stuff like that. Okay, well enough about my passport dreams. Let us really dive into some of your areas of expertise. But let’s start with your education. Because you had a mix. I think if I read it correctly, you have two master’s degrees, a MBA and a master’s in cybersecurity, or maybe that’s all in one, but you combine two different ones. Okay. So I’d love to hear a little bit of the story about how you started there. And then how did you combine your experience in the military to really double down on being an advocate for strong leadership?

Jevon Wooden  07:30

Absolutely. That’s a great question. So for me, I’ve always been inquisitive. So I’m a lifelong learner. I’m actually going back to school for my Doctorate in Business Administration, now currently at University of Houston. So I just feel like learning is something that we can never stop. And you never know enough for me personally. So background and tech came from the military, I was an information technology specialist. But I learned so much more than I wanted to see, which was in business and leadership. So I went and pursued my MBA, which gives me the theoretical aspect on top of what I already knew from being in that field. So I just wanted to understand where some of the techniques and tactics came from. So it just gave me that perspective. So now fast forward, intertwining all of my experiences together, because as a cybersecurity expert, you’re very analytical, you’re not looking at how things work, but how you can break it. And that’s what I do with a lot of my clients is when I do process improvement, I look at what is actually broken here, or where is the weak link in their funnel their processes in their profit pipeline, and all the other stuff. And that’s why I come in, and that’s what makes me good at what I do is because I look at it from that perspective, where I’m like, Okay, I see why you made that decision. But I also also can see why there’s an issue, right. Um, so that’s, that’s why I just enjoy, you know, combining the two worlds, so to speak.

Karan Rhodes  08:48

And I can definitely understand how your expertise and cybersecurity can easily those skill sets can easily transfer to leadership because, you know, I was fortunate Microsoft Brahmas, 14 years and we had cybersecurity divisions before it was mainstream a mainstream term. But that analytical strategic thinking, trying to break things and find the weaknesses is, are definitely skill sets and aspects you have to have to be a strong leader to you have to understand in any leadership effort or initiative where the weak spots are the vulnerabilities, bringing a team along to, you know, correct and address them and then stay on track or whatever it is you’re trying to lead. And we won’t even talk about the 50 billion books on leadership of the either theory, support ideas to do all that work, right? That’s the main thing.

Jevon Wooden  09:40

It’s a never ending stream of that, for sure. Never

Karan Rhodes  09:42

Ending never ending and it’s amazing. So let’s move to a discussing a little bit more about the importance of the power of narrative when you’re trying to lead or inspire influence others. Tell me more about your, you know, approach and thinking and framework that you have for that.

Jevon Wooden  10:05

Absolutely. So for me, storytelling is everything. I always say that, you know, stats tell a story sell, right. And as humans, not even as leaders alone, we’re always selling something, whether we’re selling our ideas, or selling ourselves to our spouses, our friends our significant others, you know, we’re selling other companies, whatever the case may be, we’re always selling. And the best way to do that is by connecting, right. So I like to say that we are using narrative to inspire and influence because when you tell a story, you know, to support your point, it gets that emotional forges that emotional connection with people. And that brings them in gets them interested in this whole framework really came about by Maya Angelou scope, right where she says, people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel. When I dove deeper into that, and really dissected it, and thought about it, thinking about some of the leaders that we know today, you know, Elon Musk, we think about him, whether you love them, or you don’t like him at all, you know, he uses stories beautifully, that when he launched, you know the rocket into space, the first time, he said whether it’s a success, or other thing blows up, it’s gonna be a beautiful show either way, right? So he’s able to use that humor and tie it in together to make people want to see a spectacle. Regardless, you know, if you think about Mac when he when Steve Jobs, so the Mac, the company was doing terribly, right, they were poor. Steve Jobs got fired, he got kicked out of his own company, right, because they were doing so poorly. And a lot of people don’t know this is he had to go to Microsoft to get help right to get a loan, so they can buy some stocks and shares in apple. Well, that story when he came back is what I wanted to focus on here. When he came back in the Mac became their number one product. He didn’t talk about the specs, right, we all know, computers have this RAM and all this, no one understands that they understand stories. So he gave the Mac a friendly face, he talked about the curves. He talked about the vibrant colors, and how it made you feel. He talked about all of those things. And that’s why I focus on the power of using narratives as you lead teams, because if I can find a story that resonates that evokes emotion, whether it’s me wanting them to hit a deadline, or me wanting them to think outside the box to innovate, I always have something I can lean on, whether it’s my story, or story of someone who’s led the path before us. So that’s why where all of this came from is really forging those emotional connections, leveraging them to be a force multiplier, when it comes to you getting things done.

Karan Rhodes  12:36

Love that. And you’re absolutely right. Because if you cannot make a connection with the story that you’re making, you’re not going to earn the right to be heard by whoever it is you’re trying to influence, right. And that’s one of the things that we try to emphasize to our clients is that you need to tell the story in the perspective of who it is you’re trying to influence, we know that there’s some big ideas that you have, and you want to present them and bring them to the table. But you do need to put yourself in their shoes and help them understand how they will be better off by following your lead or partnering with you or what have you. Because when it resonates with them, it makes everything so much more easy. And it sounds like you do the same thing when you’re consulting.

Jevon Wooden  13:21

Absolutely, I think it’s a necessity. Because if you don’t do that, you’re gonna sound the same as everyone else. It’s gonna fall on deaf ears, right. And then when it comes to being a leader, right, people are so inundated with their own thoughts and external factors, that you have to have something that tunes them back in. That’s right. And that’s where the story has become an important aspect of that. And the first step to any of this, the first step in the framework is identify the goal. You know, why are you telling the story because it has to be in alignment, like you said, with the people you’re speaking to. So you have to know your audience and identify the goal, because you can’t just bring something out, you know, from nowhere, and they’re like, What are you talking about?

Karan Rhodes  14:01

Exactly?

Jevon Wooden  14:02

Right? So… It happens? It definitely happens.

Karan Rhodes  14:09

You’re so right. All right. Well, the first step that led us into the first step, identify the goal, and what’s the second step,

Jevon Wooden  14:17

But that’s the fourth is the emotional connections. So you have to forge emotional connections, or else, everything else is just gonna fall by the wayside. And then what you want to do when it comes to, after you forge those emotional connections, is you want to make sure succinct in point, right, you want to make sure you’re expressing what the point of that story is. And keep it short. Keep it simple. Don’t start going on a tangent, making it elaborate. Make sure it’s of the language of your audience, right. So as a speaker, we were told, like keep it at a certain grade level, right? Whether that’s ninth grade or sixth grade, whatever you want to do,

Karan Rhodes  14:52

I heard third grade

Jevon Wooden  14:55

Third grade..is that I think that’s a little too low for me. I don’t even know a third grade language sounds like. So you want to avoid technical jargon, really, like even if you’re speaking to a group of scientists, they know that stuff, they’re experts in that they don’t need to hear all that stuff. So you want to make sure you use layman’s terms, keep it simple, keep it plain, and then you want to keep it, you want to make sure it’s is synced, right? You want to make sure you’re not tailing off and making it too long. Because simple doesn’t necessarily mean concise. So you want to make sure it’s really concise to the point and you have a call to action in it. Make sure there’s a call to action, don’t leave them hanging, right. So if I take them down in the valley with a with a sad story, I got to bring them back up. And then I got to get them to the point where they’re inspired, not motivated. Because motivation is fleeting, make them inspired to take action. Right. So that’s a big point for for leaders. And I know a lot of the audience is probably saying like, Man, I suck at storytelling, what I say, especially to my audiences, I say no, you don’t. Because if you think about one of the first skills you learned, it was storytelling, whether you were reading a book, or your your caregiver was reading the story to you or wanted you to read, it’s always a story. You got to make sure we tap back into that, that childlike behavior, and start just being free with it. I identify. And I tell my clients identify a couple of stories for certain situations, right? If you see that you have a play, but you need a playbook. Just pick a couple of stories. If your team is naturally just unmotivated group, pick some things that will inspire them to ramp up if your team is not very cognizant or cohesive when they communicate, find a story that can tell them why it’s important for them to collaborate on a level, right? You know, it’s just you have to apply it to that thing. And then just give them opportunity to also give you feedback, right? So one of the most important things we can do to learn our audiences learn about, right let them tell you stories, because you have to listen to as a leader. So let them learn stories on there. And so you can learn what drives them. Right? So if I know that someone is there for ask them just pay me right, what makes you want to be in this position or in this role. Most people aren’t going to say salary. They’re not they’re not really the money after a while goes away. That isn’t their important job. Maybe they’re there because they have a family they really want to take care of, you know, maybe they’re there because they like to be challenged, you know, find that. And once you have that, now you can play the game, right? How you can use that in your storytelling, you can rely on talking to someone whose family means everything. I can go ahead and mention that in my story like, man, you know what I remember when I was overseas, and one of my soldiers, they were underperforming. And I asked them, why did they choose? Why did they choose the military at the threat of being away from their family or their loved ones or things that cared about for years, and they told me because they weren’t able to provide for the family. And that was one of the biggest fears. So I leveraged my personal story to let them know that, hey, I was the same way it got me into trouble at first because when I was 17, I thought the same thing and I ended up facing some jail time. Luckily, I didn’t have to do that. But with the guidance and the ability to listen, I was able to find mentors who invested in me and made me believe that I can do more and be more and that’s when I started really taking action right so things like that you just use that and spend it however you want to do Toastmasters, a great organization learn how to do that. But that’s what we have to do as leaders.

Karan Rhodes  18:19

You’re so right and I agree totally. I was member for years who are our local Toastmasters? Well, we have a million of them here in Atlanta, but one that was not too far from the house but and definitely will say to those who are out there, it is definitely worth your time. If you’re going to do any kind of speaking engagements or you don’t even if you have to do speaking engagements, if you’re ever have to present or convince or others if you have to speak to others, you definitely should take advantage of a Toastmasters because it will give you practice preparing for what you want to say. But then also thinking on the spot and getting feedback in such a kind way to improve your storytelling. It’s invaluable. Yeah, so kudos.

Jevon Wooden  19:04

I mean, I’m sorry, I was gonna say you think about like, as executives, right, as executive leaders when you’re in that boardroom, and this is a point that a lot of my clients, they want me to train them on their speaking because of this. So in the boardroom, they have a presentation, you have all this data, not that no one really cares about right? There’s just looks good. And there’s a point where people start to glaze over, they’re like, Okay, this is a lot. So at what point can you add that story? And I’d venture to say that if you take that presentation and make it a cohesive story, people are more likely to get some of that data out of that, right? The real point, it’s not the data, not the numbers that they probably don’t even really care about. But the point, right, the premise of it, what action do they need to take? Because that’s really what they need. They won’t think about, what how does this tie in to me? How is it relevant to me what I need, and that’s the point we need to get to in our stories.

Karan Rhodes  19:56

That’s right. In my experience, you really want to leave them so interested that they’re asking you more, you’re just laying out enough stories to check and see if this is grabbing them. If it’s resonating with them, you know, instead of rattling off 50 facts, maybe it’s one significant one that will that will wow them or, or to your point, a story about, you know, an improvement or something that somebody went through, it ended up being in a better situation, something that will catch their attention, that means a lot to them, where they’ll say, hey, Jevon, you know, gosh, that’s something we’re dealing with every day, you know, tell me more about that. Because when you can extend and relate. That’s when you start deepening those relationships in those conversations, and it builds up that know, like, and trust factor, you know, that’s so important when you’re trying to be a strong leader.

Jevon Wooden  20:48

Absolutely. You’re correct. I mean, like I said, listening is a part of storytelling. You know, you want them to be asking you questions. And I’d venture to say that if you really want to take it to the next level, if possible, you should be having them be very engaged, right? Ask them questions, you know, ask them out. So they can start feeling like oh, man, this is this is fun, this is important. I’m here, you know, I’m getting those say what’s on my chest type of thing. And then you’ll you’ll be surprised what you get out of that. You know, how people feel energized and pay attention to body language when you’re when you’re doing this, right.

Karan Rhodes  21:19

Absolutely.

Jevon Wooden  21:20

Let’s see what people are doing. See who’s nodding, see who’s like reaching for their phones, you know, check that all out. And you know, that way you get a sense of feel climate survey, as we say, real quick, you know, just check in the temperature of the room. See if it’s hitting safe landing with the people you need it to land for not everyone is like it, but people you really need and you’re targeting. That’s who you want to pay attention to. That’s and then the fifth one is just to practice, right? The fifth Harbor Framework practice, because like I said, we whether you think you’re a storyteller or not, you are and you need to be there’s no if ands or buts about it, you have to be because that’s the only way you’re going to persuade and dissuade right? Anyway. Yeah, exactly.

Karan Rhodes  22:04

So Javon, would you mind just running through the topics really quick, the five again, just so people can make sure they have their notes Correct?

Jevon Wooden  22:11

Absolutely. So first is identify the goal, right, who you talk to and all that stuff. The second one is forge emotional connections, right? The third one is keep it simple. Keep it layman’s terms, don’t use a lot of technical jargon. The fourth one is make it concise but pointed, right. And within that is the sub four of you know, make sure you listening and, and identifying the points that they need. And the fifth one is to practice and take action, right? You don’t have to be perfect with this. But the effort that you put in is going to pay dividends.

Karan Rhodes  22:43

That was just pure gold right there. But I’m not gonna let you go yet. I still have a few more minutes.

Jevon Wooden  22:53

Right? You know, I love to talk Karan!

Karan Rhodes  22:56

You and me both, you and me both, my dear. Well, you know, it’s no surprise that that you had selected you know, we always like to ask our guests, which of the leadership execution tactics that came out of our research resonated with them. And it’s no surprise, hearing your story and what you talked about, that you selected, leading with Executive Presence, which was one that kind of resonated with you. And for my new listeners out there who may not be as familiar, it leading with Executive Presence is a big umbrella of an activity, but the way we define it is making clear and convincing either oral or written presentations on your perspectives in a way that helps to influence others to follow your lead. And so Jevon, I was just curious for you, you know, we can always talk about grit and charisma, and all those other things that fall in emotional intelligence, all that that falls under executive presence. But I was just curious, why leading with executive presence really resonated with you as a critical behavior tactic that leaders have to be skilled in?

Jevon Wooden  24:00

Absolutely. And this resonates with me because I understand the criticality of if it’s not there, if you don’t have an executive presence, leading you. So one, that executive presence representation matters. We hear it all the time. So if you see someone who is inspiring you, or who is making you a better person who was challenging you, to me, that’s what their executive presence does, it forces people to be better, right? It allows them to feel more confident as well. They see you exuding confidence, and they see you leading and owning when you make your mistakes, then they will do the same thing. And that’s a cultural thing. And I feel like that culture starts with that leader, and I want to make a distinction for people that executive presence. It doesn’t have to be that you are in the type of organization that should be something that you really embody in your life. It’s a lifestyle thing, and that’s why it resonates with when I’m walking when as soon as I wake up, I have to decide to be in that mindset, right? Because I want to make the The impact in the executive presence is the only way I’m going to step into my power and my purpose, and also allow others to do the same when they look at me

Karan Rhodes  25:09

Love that. And it’s I’m curious Jevon, I mean, you’re, you know, the head of your own consulting firm, you’ve had a breadth of experiences, what have you found that it takes for you to lead at the top of your game?

Jevon Wooden  25:21

It takes humility, to know when I don’t know something to know when I need assistance to know what I need help. And to be able to say, hey, I don’t know this, I need you to find out where I need to find out. And I need help, I need to bring someone in or whatever the case may be. Because without that, you’re gonna fall flat on your face. And I think that’s a part of the executive presence is being able to say, hey, we need somebody, or hey, I don’t know what I’m doing. Let’s let’s learn up or study up on that. I think that’s where a lot of people fail is being too, too much bravado and too much arrogance, really not even confidence, arrogance, right to say that they don’t need anyone else, because that’s just not the case. I mean, if you want to sustain success, you have to collaborate versus compete?

Karan Rhodes  26:03

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, I can’t let you get out of here, Devine without telling us a little bit more about your practice what you do, like who’s your target audience so that people know, you know, how to, you know, find you and what you can do to support them. But then you’ve also have a book, you have a podcast, you’re a man of many talents. So I want to give you some space and grace to kind of share with some of that with us. So let’s start out with your practice itself. Who’s your target market is in more smaller businesses, as a corporation’s is a mix of both? And what do you do for them? Yeah,

Jevon Wooden  26:40

yeah, absolutely. And thank you for providing this space for me, Karen. So Brightmind Consulting Group, we focus on service based businesses. So that could be that small mom and pop all the way up to the fortune 500 companies. So our focus is to increase clarity of business objectives, boost confidence in decision making, and augment cash flow. And we also offer a speaker training. So and the reason why this all ties together is because it all leads to leaving that legacy. And that’s the mission of bright money at the end of the day.

Karan Rhodes  27:09

Wow, wonderful in the your, you know, what I love about that your ability to tie it into bottom line, business metrics, and people metrics is huge. So you’re able to go in and help, you know, organizations within those areas, I’m sure it has a direct impact on, you know, bringing in more revenue or clients or getting the word out about their businesses. I’m sure it has a real positive impact there.

Jevon Wooden  27:36

Thank you. Yeah, one of the things we find is that, you know, their personal and professional is directly correlated. Yeah, right. Like, if your personal life is a mess, it’s going to start impacting the business, it may take a little bit, and then vice versa, if your business life is a mess, is going to start impacting the personal. So we like to say we coach the people and consult the business.

Karan Rhodes  27:58

There you go. I love that. Well, now let’s move to your book. Can you tell us a little bit about your book? And what’s this about? Absolutely.

Jevon Wooden  28:07

So one of the key components of all of this is mindset. So my book Own Your Kingdom… How to Control Your Mindset so You Can Control Your Destiny talks about how to overcome obstacles internally, so that you can be your best self externally name and also have an upcoming book called The Five Why’s. So it’s how a service based business can focus on business growth without being overwhelmed. And that’s another framework that I have.

Karan Rhodes  28:32

Right now, because

Jevon Wooden  28:37

I felt that there’s a lot of books saying the same thing, you know, in different ways, but I didn’t see a lot of books focus on service based businesses. And I wanted to write Yeah, so that’s, that’s the next book that’s upcoming. So working on that now. And yeah, I’ll get you a copy. When when it’s all said and done.

Karan Rhodes  28:55

Hey, you gotta let me know. I’ll even get my copy. I just need to know that I’m always in learning mode.

Jevon Wooden  29:03

Yeay, I see you! I’m right behind you. Absolutely.

Karan Rhodes  29:11

And then also, can you share about your podcast?

Jevon Wooden  29:14

Yes. So podcast is Design Your Life and Business, the Podcast for Leaders, you know, hence why I love talking about leadership. We focus on that. And it’s really kind of tied to what I said before. So it’s about designing a life and business you don’t need a vacation from and what that means is different for everyone else. So we have an array of guests, including you. I’m gonna talk about personal and professional development. So we talked about systems and processes. We’ve talked about AI, you talked about mindfulness based stress reduction, we talked about everything that will make you better personally, professionally. So go ahead and follow that at the leaders pot.com And we look forward to hearing your thoughts on

Karan Rhodes  29:53

That right. So listeners, you know, you’re already gonna go ahead and subscribe to my podcast if you haven’t already so you, while you’re there, just need to subscribe to the leaders pod that calms the podcast as well,

Jevon Wooden  30:06

That’s it! And where you find this design life and business, the podcasts for leaders on any platform Nice.

Karan Rhodes  30:12

So you get a two for one, two, great

Jevon Wooden  30:14

Two for one..

Karan Rhodes  30:15

For one emphasis and podcast series on leadership. So definitely take that into consideration. And then last but not least, if on although we’ll have all your information and links in the show notes, I always love to give you a chance to say in your own voice where folks can find you if they like to connect and learn more about your business, your book, your podcast, and to reach you directly. Absolutely.

Jevon Wooden  30:38

So LinkedIn is my primary so you can find me at Javon wooden, that’s Jevon Wooden. The same on Facebook and then on Instagram is Javon speaks. So whichever one you prefer,

Karan Rhodes  30:39

All right, well, it pains me to say that time is up, Jeven, but this has been such an fantastic episode. Good, I just want to thank you on the from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of all our listeners for your gift of time, and you sharing the framework and the stories and everything we really and truly appreciate it.

Jevon Wooden  31:13

Yeah, my pleasure, Karan, thank you so much for having me and continue to do the very needed work that you are doing and just let me know how it can be of service,

Karan Rhodes  31:22

We’ll definitely do so. And thank you to listeners for joining another episode at the Lead at the Top of Your Game. As you know, we only ask that you like and follow our podcast and share with just one friend because by doing so that helps us reach our extend our reach and help others just like you delete at the top of your game. Thanks so much again for listening and see you next week. Bye bye. Well, I hope you enjoyed our conversation today, with Jevon wooden, founder of Brightmind Consulting Group links to his bio his entry into our leadership playbook. And additional resources can be found in the show notes both on your favorite podcast platform of choice and on the web at lead your game podcast.com And now for Karan’s Take on today’s topic of influential narratives. Now in addition to the great insights Jevon shared with us, I’d like to help you better understand the business case for using narratives when leading organizations and teams. First of all, leadership narratives add credibility. When leaders tell convincing and coherent stories, they are able to quickly establish credibility, relationships, and a sense of purposeful direction with those whom they seek to influence. Secondly, narratives are part of our human DNA narratives and stories are our natural medium of communication. Around 80% of our daily communications fall into the categories of storytelling, whether it be presentations, examples, anecdotes, or gossip. Did you know that the oldest written story is over 4000 years old, and stories in the oral tradition where they pass down information verbally, have been around for 10s of 1000s of years. Amazing, right? Our third point is narratives help in managing change. For Change To be effective, it has to happen simultaneously across three domains, what’s going on with ourselves, what’s going on with others, and what’s going on in the environment of the cultures in which we operate. Narratives play a vital part in this. And people become empowered only when their stories are given credence, and are rooted in reality. And then lastly, the contemporary research supports using narratives and leadership. There’s been a huge amount of contemporary research, particularly in the areas of neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, that points to using narratives as the simplest, the most effective, the most powerful and the most memorable way to reach the hearts and minds of others. Human beings are hard wired stories, and because they are multi sensory, they stimulate and engage our ability to reason, our curiosity and our energy in ways that other forms of communication cannot even began to match. timely, relevant, well told narratives resonate in our minds and memories, and long after they were told they create emotional connections that give a visceral sense of what the feature changes we are co taught today sorry, that we’re proposing might actually look and feel like, basically in a nutshell, they help us make sense of ourselves and our world. Well, that’s all for today. Ladies and gentlemen, please remember to subscribe to our podcast and share the podcast with just one friend because by doing so, YouTube will empower them to also leave at the top of their game. Thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. and we’ll see you next week. And that’s our show for today. Thank you for listening to the lead at the top of your game podcast, where we help you lead your seat at any employer, business, or industry in which you choose to play. You can check out the show notes, additional episodes, and bonus resources, and also submit guest recommendations on our website at leadyourgamepodcast.com. You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn by searching for the name Karan Rhodes with Karan being spelled K a r a n. And if you like the show, the greatest gift you can give would be to subscribe and leave a rating on your podcast platform of choice. This podcast has been a production of Shockingly Different Leadership, a global consultancy which helps organizations execute their people, talent development, and organizational effectiveness initiatives on an on-demand, project, or contract basis. Huge thanks to our production and editing team for a job well done. Goodbye for now.