Blog

  • Story and symbol–how the pope links the two together

      I often talk with my clients and seminar attendees about being acutely aware of symbol. In fact, we should all be very attentive to the images we project with every one of our actions, whether large or small. The stories that others will tell about our symbolic moments or acts will greatly affect our reputation, and our ability to

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    John Sadowsky Leadership & Storytelling
  • Pope Francis and stories of collective identity

    In the past few weeks, we have seen a variety of ways in which Pope Francis has employed personal storytelling in his communication. As for any leader, personal storytelling is the most effective manner to illustrate “who I am” and “why I do things the way I do.” The pope’s personal stories of identity display his values and beliefs loudly

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    John Sadowsky Leadership & Storytelling
  • A storytelling pope and why I stay interested in his story

    While the coming weeks will be busy with travel and client activity for me, I do plan to write more about one of the most compelling “storytelling and leadership”  events in recent history–Pope Francis and his use of personal stories of identity. Before doing so, though, I should make two confessions. The first one is that I had certainly never

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    John Sadowsky Leadership & Storytelling
  • A story of “where my management style originates from”

    This week, I continue about Pope Francis and how he uses his personal stories of identity to express who he is and why he does things the way he does. One of the elements I work on with my clients is their ability to tell stories from their past that demonstrate the origin of their values, beliefs or management philosophy.

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    John Sadowsky Leadership & Storytelling
  • Pope Francis and his use of personal stories of identity

    I had certainly never intended to continue my musings about Pope Francis for so many weeks, but forces seem to be pushing me to continue. As my co-author and I have been researching examples for our new book–and she is particularly keen to include leaders from outside the English-speaking world–I got stuck in on following stories about the pope in

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    John Sadowsky Leadership & Storytelling
  • Writing a new narrative for an institution, and making it a story of engagement

    As we have seen in recent posts here, Pope Francis was chosen with the idea that there would be a break with the past. In naming Cardinal Bergoglio, an outsider and the first pope not from Europe, the cardinals were looking for someone who could begin the process of changing the ways of Church politics. Since I began writing about

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    John Sadowsky Leadership & Storytelling