1. Building Career Narratives
Meeta Sengupta
meetasengupta@gmail.com
@meetasengupta
A part of this talk was delivered to a WIPRO Leadership group on
October 22, 2013 (c) Meeta Sengupta
No part of this is to be replicated without permission or attribution

2. Do stories have names?

3. Tell me a story...
• Your story..
• Or maybe just the punchline..

4. Was that your Elevator Pitch
or Story?

5. So, What is a story?

6. What made it a story?
Tone
Pace
Voice
Dialogue
...
Dramatic
Question
Characte
rs
Plot
Rhythm
Conflict
Motivatio
n
PoV
...
Conflict
...

7. Let me read these to you...

8. Passage 1
• “Some people climb mountains, one day I
may.”

9. Passage 2
• “Everyday, as a child growing up in the hills, I
would look at the snowy mountain peaks and
tell myself, ‘One day I will reach the summit’ ”

10. Before I ask you the real question, very
quickly:
Do you have anything to say to A or B?
Do you have anything to say to A or B?

11. Why did A engage us
less/more than B?

12. Stories are Sticky
• Whether in learning
• Or in Selling...

13. What makes stories
enhance learning?
• Emotional connect
• Nested loops
• Personal branding
• Flow and rhythm
• Glamour and Aspiration

14. Classically..
• “Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, I may
remember. But involve me, and I’ll
understand”
• A story is the shortest path to involving the
audience in the content.

15. On that note, a story..
•
Mr. Prabhu has been to many training courses and
has learnt a lot from them. He is also a very
dedicated reader of business books. He is a steady
worker at office, and often gets a chance to sit in on
senior leadership meetings.
•
Mr. Prabhu was recently rather upset. He had found
out that the COO of the company did not even
remember his name, despite having met him a few
times and discussed projects.
•
Mr. Prabhu does not like this situation. What can he
do?

16. Elements of a Career Story
Identity
Establishing Your Circle
Intertwining of Stories
Personalise Industry Insights
Achievements Against all Odds - Conflict, Struggle, Victory
Reason to meet again - this is a serial, not a short story
(c) Meeta Sengupta Not to be used without permission or attribution

17. What of career goals?
• Explicit or Implicit?
• Career Goals are the reason for telling the
story, they are not directly part of the story..
Embed your Goals in your Story

18. Storifying your goals
• Let us ...
• Take 3 minutes...
• Embed your professional goals in the story
of your career goals so far. Maximum 30
seconds to speak
Personalise for Resonance

19. Who cares?
• Who cares for your plan? Or your goals?
• How do you make them care?
• Who is part of your team in the journey to
your goals?
Build your Story Teams

20. Pch. Not Enough.
• Storifying makes it interesting...
• Is that enough for impact?
Build Narratives

21. A Narrative...
• A consistent interweaving of stories and
evidence over time
• The Ramayan. The story of Pakistan. The
story of the Indian as IT geek.
Narratives are built on consistency

22. Types of Narratives...
•
The hero
•
The victim
•
The firefighter
•
The captain
•
....
The Narrative Feeds the Brand

23. The Power of the
Narrative...
• What did Dravid and MSD do differently?
• Did their narrative impact their value?
Narrative Drives Value

24. Narrative Building in Action..
• Narendra Modi
• Rahul Gandhi
Narratives need Substance

25. Narratives of Leadership
• Stories of rescuing the team via thought
leadership
• Stories of standing up for the welfare of the
team without compromising the deliverable
• Stories of creating impact for self, company
and team
• Stories of creating followership in clients and
staff

26. Building Narratives...
• Your personal Narratives...
• Who builds them
• What are the elements
• Sustaining the Narrative

27. Your Narrative...
• What do you want to be known to be...
• A good leader
• A mentor
• A team player
• A visionary
.......
........
........

28. Writing your Epitaph
• In memorium to....

29. Growing into Leadership
• From task to ask
• From delivery to accountability
• From managing people to being an
ambassador
• From inward looking to outward facing
Leaders Tell Stories

30. Do you have what it
takes?
• Yes?
• No?
• Not yet?
Find and Fill the Gaps

31. How would you know?
• Johari Window
• Peer Review
• Positioning Exercise
Map to Expectations

32. Not yet?
• Plan for when...
• Plan development needs..
• Plan lifelong learning..
Narratives need Curation

33. Carpenters bend wood, Fletchers bend
arrows, Wise men fashion themselves Buddha

34. The Case of MM, (almost) General
Manager
• MM has been a project manager for over ten years,
and has received glowing reports for the past three
years.
• She had some difficulties adjusting to a managerial
role but has now found her groove
• She is being considered for promotion to a General
Management position. But is not sure she can make
it.
• What can MM do?

35. LLL is about Self
Determination
•
Hierarchies and Beyond
•
Cognitive Choices
•
Giving fuel to your Targets
Beyond the myth of corporate slavery

36. Self Determination
Personal
Vision
Stories Sustain
Narratives
Stories feed
Narrative
Learning grows
Stories
Leaders build strong Narratives

37. You are the storyteller of your own life, and
you can create your own legend or not
-- Isabel Allende
-- Isabel Allende

38. Thank You

39. meetasengupta@gmail.com
@meetasengupta