You may think leaders are supposed to have an official title and look a certain way – and that perhaps you don’t fit that mould. But bestselling author and business storytelling coach Beatrice Kabutakapua is out to smash that preconception.
She believes that anyone can be a leader; that we all have the potential to turn our own experiences into leadership superpowers. In this way, our weaknesses become strengths.
Beatrice is a member of the Real Folk Panel, Folk’s group of communications professionals who bring diverse real-life perspectives to help brands connect more deeply with the audiences they want to reach – ensuring life in all its complexity is represented.
She is also the CEO and founder of The Business Storytelling Centre. With a background in journalism and documentary making, she helps Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of entrepreneurs use storytelling to engage, retain, and empower their people.
She put her deep experience in helping leaders find their voices to pen her book, Lead With Your Story, which has become an Amazon best-seller.
Here she answers some questions about her book, and how it can help people who have been historically underestimated.
How do you help leaders find their authentic voice?
Leadership is often constrained to an image of a middle-aged white man, framed by US research and literature.
Because of that, a lot of leadership narratives, books and training don’t work for everyone.
However, nobody shares the same lived experience, so that’s a powerful place to start when helping leaders find their authentic voices.
Why do people underestimate the power of their own experience?
People who are consistently unheard, ignored or actively attacked can build an internal belief that their voice and story don’t matter.
Also, many people haven’t had the tools or the chance to look at their lived experience from the outside and learn the lessons from it.
When you share a story, you also share the lessons you’ve learned. But first, you need to understand what those lessons are.
Why is storytelling important for organisations?
Companies hear “storytelling” and immediately point to marketing or copywriting.
They often don’t realise the best and most influential stories come from inside and are shared internally.
If you give employees or potential recruits a clear narrative, they feel more stabilised and connected, and they feel like the company cares.
Also, AI means we need human connection more than ever – people really crave that.
Why is your book so important right now?
I tend to see the same people sharing the same stories within businesses. Instead, there needs to be more equality in who gets to share, including historically marginalised people.
That kind of internal storytelling also requires safety. My book helps people feel safer and have the confidence and clarity to share their stories.
What do you hope readers will come away with from your book?
First, clarity: an understanding of where you’re starting from and the path ahead. In the book, it is presented in a warm way that’s not academic, nor overly business-focused.
Second is confidence. Learning how to reframe your lived experiences, understand lessons from your experiences, and rediscover traits and experiences as strengths.
Third is visibility. Once you have this clarity and confidence, you can slowly become more visible as a leader.
You can follow Beatrice on LinkedIn and explore her bestselling book, Lead With Your Story: How to Turn Your Lived Experience Into Your Leadership Superpower, available at lead-with-your-story.com.
If you’d like to find out how Beatrice, alongside her fellow Real Folk Panel members, can help ensure your brand truly represents diverse real-life perspectives, then get in touch.