Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative »

Stephen Denning is a private consultant specializing in knowledge management and organizational storytelling. His clients include GE, IBM, Shell, McDonald's, and the U.S. Army, among others. He is the author of the acclaimed books Squirrel Inc., from Jossey-Bass, and The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations.

In his best-selling book, Squirrel Inc., former World Bank executive and master storyteller Stephen Denning used a tale to show why storytelling is a critical skill for leaders. Now, in this hands-on guide, Denning explains how you can learn to tell the right story at the right time.

Whoever you are in the organization—CEO, middle management, or someone on the front lines—you can lead by using stories to effect change. Filled with myriad examples, The Leader's Guide to Storytelling shows how storytelling is one of the few available ways to handle the principal—and most difficult—challenges of leadership: sparking action, getting people to work together, and leading people into the future. The right kind of story at the right time can make an organization "stunningly vulnerable" to a new idea.