COURSE NUMBER: MBA291T.1B
COURSE TITLE: Storytelling for
Leadership
UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 unit
INSTRUCTOR: Arina Isaacson
E-MAIL ADDRESS: arina@haas.berkeley.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE
LOCATION: http://bspace.berkeley.edu
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesdays 2:00 –
4:00PM during Fall B (10/16, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20 and 11/27)
PREREQUISITE(S): None.
CLASS FORMAT: In class
presentations, skill building exercises, lecture and one case study.
REQUIRED READINGS: One textbook on
Storytelling and two articles.
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: A mixture of
class participation, storytelling presentations 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 soul. You will learn to
harvest your own experiences for powerful lessons and identify the authentic
moments that resonate with the audience. This session will give you
strategies, skills and tools for connecting to and speaking from the place of
your 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.
A guest lecture on how the brain
works when we move into our fears of speaking in public, including strategies
of how to work with this “state of mind.”
You will practice crafting and telling different kinds of stories: “Who I
Am” Stories; “Who We Are” Stories; “The Vision” Story, “Teaching” Stories
and “Values-in-Action” Stories.
There will be an outside reading
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. 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 and master storyteller. She is the founder and
artistic director of the San Francisco School of Improvisation.