In organisations, those words are rarely used to describe our meetings, conversations and presentations. Leaders that can light up the room with a story have the ability to stand out, to influence decisions and to overcome inertia far more than those armed with a spreadsheet and a powerpoint.  

The stories we tell in business are very different, but they still need to be memorable and compelling. 

I learned to lead while driving in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsular. As a novice, picking a course across dunes and salt flats, I found my way by following the tracks of those that had been before. They gave me the confidence to set a course across a salt flat or over a blind dune where I hadn’t been before. 

The stories we leave are like those tracks, they guide the way for those that follow. They signal that it is possible and they show that it has been done before. They’re not a four lane highway hemming our teams in with guardrails, they offer an adventure and they inspire our people to go and experience it themselves. 

Bringing together the best from journalism, neuroscience, storytelling and speaking, my Tracks in the Sand keynote will inspire your teams and give them the simple skills to lay down tracks that your people are compelled to follow.