COURSE NUMBER: MBA291S.1B
Renumbered from MBA291T.1B
COURSE TITLE: Storytelling for Leadership
UNITS OF CREDIT: 1.0
INSTRUCTOR: Arina Isaacson
E-MAIL ADDRESS: arina@haas.berkeley.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://bspace.berkeley.edu
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesdays, 2:00PM – 5:00PM during Fall B (Meets
on 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 11/25, 12/2)
PREREQUISITE(S): None.
CLASS FORMAT: In class presentations, skill building exercises , lecture and one case study.
REQUIRED READINGS: One
textbook on Storytelling, two articles and several video viewings.
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: A mixture of class participation,
storytelling presentations, one out-of-class coaching session and a short final
paper in the form of a story.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
The journey to authentic leadership begins with understanding the
stories of your life. Your life story provides the context for your experiences
and through it, you can find the inspiration
to make an impact on the world.
The ability to create and tell certain kinds of stories is not
only a useful tool, but an essential prerequisite to being an inspirational
leader. Stories provide visual maps and images for conveying who we are, where
we came from and why we are going in a particular direction. Storytelling is
data with a heart and soul. You will learn to harvest your own experiences for
powerful lessons and identify the authentic moments that resonate with the audience. For
leaders, whose job it is to manage change, storytelling facilitates learning
and is a vehicle to assist others in overcoming obstacles, generating
enthusiasm and team-work, sharing knowledge and ultimately leading to building
trust and connection. It is an effective way to communicate to various
stakeholders at every level of an organization. This session will
give you strategies, skills and tools for connecting to and speaking from the
place of your rich life experiences and true,
natural voice.
The goals of this elective are for you to internalize the fundamental
principles behind stories that educate, influence, motivate, inspire and
connect. You will practice the three elements of telling powerful leadership
stories:
· Story Structure: crafting concise and powerful story from
personal experience that paints a picture and lands the message.
· Story Content: defining the intent behind telling the
story, identify the heart of the message, and being authentic.
· Story Delivery: using voice, breath and mental centeredness
to connect with the audience and be fully present while storytelling.
There will be an in class analysis, in terms of structure, story
and delivery of several CEO’S that use stories in their presentations. These
case studies provide you with real world examples of how to communicate
narratives that are the building blocks of how to inspire, motivate, and
persuade as a leader.
You will practice crafting and telling 'Who I Am
Stories” ? These are our leadership journey stories.
There will be crafting and telling three leadership journey
stories, outside reading, video viewing, a visual story project (River of Life)
and one written story as a homework assignment.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Arina Isaacson MA is a communications consultant and executive
coach specializing in Authentic Presence, Presentation and Storytelling. For 20
years, Arina has worked with leaders and senior leadership teams in Fortune 500
companies and institutions around the world and across diverse cultures and
industries. She teaches expressive communication and presentation in executive
education programs at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, UC Davis
Graduate School of Management, the Kellogg
School of Management at Northwestern and the Olin School of Business at
Washington University. Arina is the principal of Arina inc, an executive coaching and
consulting practice that specializes in developing authentic presence and
creativity through communication and speaking coaching. She serves as an
executive coach to seasoned senior executives, leaders, managers and
entrepreneurs as well as emerging, aspiring young leaders. She is a senior
consultant with Corporate Scenes, Inc., an international communications
consulting firm that creates cutting edge culture change in the corporate
world.
Arina is an award winning director, improvisational actress,
visual artist and master storyteller. She is the founder and artistic director
of the San Francisco School of Improvisation.