05. Listening: Essential For All Storytellers

[00:00]
The real power in the room lies with the one who is truly listening.

Welcome to the Storytelling at Work Podcast. I'm your host, Vinod Krishna, and here we explore storytelling, communication, leadership, and more.

I remember watching Star Trek as a teenager. Every episode began with an intro that had an iconic line: "To boldly go where no man has gone before." This still gives me goosebumps. William Shatner, with his dramatic pauses and commanding presence, made space travel seem like the ultimate frontier.

[00:45]
Decades later, Shatner actually went to space. At 90 years of age, he was invited on a Blue Origin flight - a brief 11-minute journey beyond Earth's atmosphere.

When the crew returned, something unexpected happened. While everyone was screaming and celebrating, Shatner was emotional and moved. He stepped out of the capsule and tried to articulate what he had just experienced—the vastness, the fragility of Earth, the sharp contrast between life and emptiness.

Jeff Bezos (Founder of Blue Origin and Amazon) was standing right next to him. And while Shatner was sharing his deeply personal moment, Bezos cut in with a joke, turned away, and started celebrating with the others.

Shatner was still speaking, but Bezos wasn’t listening. He said he was listening, but he was not.

[01:35]
That moment stuck with me because it made me think - how often do we do this at the workplace? In meetings? With colleagues? With friends?

We think we are listening, but often we are just waiting to speak. And our attention is divided - physically present, while mentally our focus is on something else.

Listening - truly listening - is not passive. It's presence. It's paying attention.

Listening is a significant part of honing your storytelling muscle. Because when you listen, you build trust. You create space for people to feel seen and be heard. You pick up stories. You notice tensions and turning points—the very thing stories are made of.

[02:25]
When people speak, there's so much more than just words being spoken. They're revealing a part of their story.

As a leader, you’re a storyteller who shapes the thinking of the people around you.

Years ago, in one of the weekly leadership meetings I was participating in, something unusual happened. Hardly minutes into the meeting, my boss paused in between. She had noticed something in one of the leaders - a slight shift in tone, a voice that indicated something concerning.

Most of us didn’t catch it. But she did.

She stopped the meeting and gently asked, "Is everything all right?"

There was silence at first. Then the leader spoke up. He was overwhelmed. Worried about frequent changes in strategy, lack of clarity, the inability to plan long-term.

[03:15]
My boss didn’t interrupt. She didn’t rush to fix it. She just listened.

And then another leader spoke up. And another one.

That two-hour meeting turned into something else entirely. The regular status reviews of projects and initiatives were set aside. What emerged was a real conversation, a moment of shared honesty.

And I remember that meeting for three reasons.

My boss noticed. She had noticed how people usually are and how something was different that day.

Second, she used that cue to listen, rather than lead with a solution or next steps.

And lastly, she changed the dynamics of the leadership team. Some of the leaders were unsure of how to bring up their concerns, and just by mere listening, it encouraged everyone to open up.

[04:10]
The leadership team related to each other in ways they had not done in the past. It actually broke barriers that day.

My boss didn’t just lead. She tuned in. She heard the stories under the surface. And that changed everything.

My respect for my boss went up a few more notches. Listening is the first step to becoming a better storyteller.

Listening turns a transaction into a connection. It helps notice the stories in the midst of all the talk. It creates the right space for stories to emerge.

And sometimes, it's how you convey to someone that their story matters.

[04:50]
So today, just try pausing. Really listen. You might be surprised by what you notice.

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If you've got a question or a storytelling challenge at work, do reach out.