Welcome.
Today’s podcast is dedicated to women all over the world. As it is International Women’s day tomorrow, I thought to celebrate you on this episode while encouraging you to tell your stories. The impact and the leverage you want to change your situation and your piece of the earth lies within your ability to tell your story, purpose it and plug it into the bigger picture.
On the first episode of this podcast I talked about how to transition your hobby into a calling and one of the ways I suggested was that every potential Leaderpreneur find their tribe – those for whom their calling brings meaning and impact.
Based on that episode a lot of people wanted to know how to identify those who belonged in their tribe. And that is why I am going to be talking on how just telling our stories can help us gather our tribe.
Recently, a young lady I have mentored for ten years started a blog where she chronicles her experiences since the death of her husband ten years ago and how she had coped and is rebuilding her life. She told me a lot of people have been asking her why she is telling her story so openly. She told me she responded to them that it is because she now understands the power of a story and how change and comfort can come to others through her own story.
Every one of us has a story; some stories we feel proud to tell; others we will rather not tell. We all cheer for stories that end in success; stories like those of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and others like them. We also love the underdog story where someone who didn’t stand a chance gets a break and becomes a victor in the process. We love these stories.
However, in my experience that is where our love for stories ends. We hate to tell how we failed; we hate to acknowledge that we made mistakes. This is the reason why rape and abuse victims never say anything because they think that telling their stories portray them as weak. What I hope to achieve with this episode however, is to debunk that notion and encourage us to find a way to tell our stories. Good, bad or ugly, our stories are a great part of our lives and the earlier we dared to stand up and tell them the faster we may find our tribe and ultimately our Purpose.
So why do I think telling our story is important to a life of fulfillment and exemplary leadership? Well here is my case for telling our stories:
1. Your story is your own and only you should tell it. Why is this important? Because if you leave it to another to tell, they may tell a distorted version and that may make matters worse for you in the long run.
2. Nothing is hidden under the sun anyway, for those of us who feel like our stories are too bad to tell, the truth is if you will be honest with yourself somebody already knows. And if they decide to tell it, you cannot stop them.
3. When we step up to tell our stories especially tales of mistakes or wrong doing; what happens is we take responsibility for our choices and we can begin the journey to righting those wrongs or maybe just making different choices to ensure our stories become different. Either way life gets better for us.
4. Stories mean experience, experience put in proper perspective means wisdom and wisdom builds character. In the end just taking the time to tell your own story, helps you gain perspective and ultimately builds your character.
5. Even though the story is about your life, sometimes the things we go through are not about us. Telling our stories help others benefit from our experience and that can save a life or cause a destiny shaping change in the life of others.
The question then is; how can telling my story help me find my tribe? Well, the Bible says that everything God created is meant to reproduce its kind. For the rape victim who speaks up many more rape victims realise that it is not their fault and that can give them the courage to speak up too. More importantly they can get up from their ashes and make a better life for themselves. These can identify with your story and as a result do not require any hard selling to buy in.
Another reason why telling your story as it is works powerfully in gathering your tribe is because a lot of people are not looking for super humans to lead them, they want to know that you have been where they are and therefore qualify to help them get out.
The third and most important reason why telling your story is important, is because if your goal is to become a leader whose aim is to bring value, the experience definitely equips you to be better able to help others.
When I started to tell my story, someone close to me then wondered if I was doing the right thing, I didn’t know what I knew now, but I did know that my mother told me that truth cannot be hidden so anytime I have the opportunity to speak about my life, I should always tell the truth recognising that my mess in the past isn’t who I am today. That counsel has worked for me and the one thing people tell me they love about my writing more than anything is that I am real and open about where I have been and what I am dealing with.
So if you are wondering how to find your tribe, a great place to start is telling your story.
If you have enjoyed this podcast please subscribe and review it on iTunes, also leave a comment below, I am new at this and every encouragement counts. So do you have a story?
No matter what your story is; you can use it to build your tribe. You will make it NeverTheLess.
Here is to your success!
Bidem