Whether it’s onboarding, upskilling or succession planning, learning and development (L&D) leaders are tasked with transforming the capabilities of their organizations at scale. Leading a strategic transformation effort isn’t easy, but strong communication powered by storytelling helps to spark and sustain change.

This article will describe the journey of change and provide examples of storytelling techniques L&D professionals can use to lead change successfully.

The Never-Ending Skills Quest

To keep pace with shifting customer needs and market trends, organizations must continually adapt. As a result, L&D leaders are on a never-ending quest to equip employees with an evolving set of skills needed for success on the job.

But upskilling at scale isn’t easy. Transforming the capabilities of an entire organization takes time, commitment, and heavy doses of communication to keep people moving through their learning journey. Because, as leadership expert John W. Gardner wrote, “There is no learning without some difficulty.”

Whether you’re teaching a technical skill like using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools, or a “soft” skill like resolving conflict, people will have to make themselves vulnerable to try and fail, over and over, before they master it. As learners struggle to understand and apply unfamiliar concepts, they experience a range of emotions, from curiosity and excitement to frustration or anxiety. Multiply those emotions across thousands of employees and you’ve got a big motivational challenge on your hands.

How can learning leaders make sure their upskilling or reskilling efforts will be successful? The answer lies in storytelling. Storytelling has been used throughout history not only to entertain and inform, but to educate and inspire change. In fact, the structure of a story mirrors the journey of change, so it makes sense to use it when leading a transformation.

Here are three ways you can harness the power of storytelling to motivate adoption and manage resistance as you undertake change.

1. Use story as a lens to understand the journey of change.

Navigating change requires understanding and empathizing with the thoughts and feelings employees have at each stage of the change journey. Interestingly, the process of undergoing change follows the structure of a story, first described in the book, “Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols.”

The story of change begins when the hero sets out on an adventure to pursue a goal or “dream.” But as the hero “leaps” into action toward their mission, roadblocks appear that the hero has to “fight” to overcome. With the help of mentors (aka, managers, and trainers) and a few trusty sidekicks (e.g., co-workers), the hero “climbs” over any obstacles in their path and “arrives” at their goal. In the process, the hero transforms into someone more capable and confident than they were before. That’s the goal of any learning journey, isn’t it?

Using story as a lens to view the change journey will shift how you teach and communicate. When you see learners as heroes on a quest, you’ll gain insight into the struggles they’ll encounter, outwardly and inwardly. You’ll also be better able to give them the emotional fuel they need to endure and triumph.

2. Plan communication with learners’ emotional needs in mind.

At each stage of a change journey, people have different needs. For instance, in the beginning, employees need to understand what needs to change and why. It’s important not only to provide facts and figures about why new skills are needed for the business to succeed, but the benefits employees will reap by building those new capabilities.

Help employees see how they fit into your vision by painting a vivid picture of the future state and how learning will unlock their potential. Give them a clear understanding of the commitment required and how the effort will advance their own goals as well as the company’s aims, so they see the value of leaping on board.

Remember, though, that communicating your vision is just the first stage of change. Once employees begin doing the hard work of learning, they’re bound to encounter difficulties that’ll drain their resolve to keep going. Your communication in this “messy middle” phase of a change effort must answer their concerns and make learners feel confident and capable of conquering any challenge they run up against.

Acknowledge their progress, no matter how small, and encourage them to tell stories about lessons they learned along the way. Using stories as a tool for reflection helps foster an environment where everyone involved in the transformation feels connected to a shared cause and empowered by their collective achievements.

3. Incorporate stories into your repertoire as a training leader.

In addition to practicing storytelling as a means to understand and manage change, you can use it to rally your executive sponsors and team to support skill-building initiatives. Stories bring abstract concepts to life, connect people emotionally to ideas, and incite action — all powerful motivational tools in any leader’s toolbox.

A well-crafted story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, and be relatable to the audience. If you’re pitching a training program to upper management, for instance, take advantage of data storytelling techniques to strengthen your case. Begin by introducing the problem to overcome, then in the middle present your solution to it, and close with outcomes the program will deliver and how the business will benefit in the end.

Support each of your claims with credible data points, but also include anecdotes about challenges that the proposed skill-building program will address. Perhaps tell a story about a team who struggles to achieve productivity targets today but who will increase their speed and efficiency once the training is complete. Such examples will humanize the training case and make outcomes more tangible for your stakeholders.

Using storytelling as a tool to understand, manage, and communicate change helps address potential resistance before it becomes an issue and galvanizes employees and stakeholders in support of a common cause. At its core, storytelling helps people connect with ideas more deeply than facts alone could ever do — something invaluable when leading organizational changes at scale.