YOUR STORY ISN’T FOR EVERYONE - HEART BREAKING AS IT SOUNDS - NOT EVERYONE CAN BE TRUSTED WITH IT.

YOUR STORY ISN’T FOR EVERYONE - HEART BREAKING AS IT SOUNDS - NOT EVERYONE CAN BE TRUSTED WITH IT.

More than once in my life, I have seen a story overrun with TMI destroy a relationship.
More than once, I have seen a weakness exposed in a story and manipulation ensue.
More than I can count, I have seen the heart break of broken trust.
More than you’ll ever want to know, I have seen lives redirected, careers damaged, and hope vanquished because someone shared their heart TO THE WRONG PERSON or at the WRONG TIME.

KNOW WHO YOU CAN TRUST
Sharing your personal stories should be beneficial, advantageous, inspirational and instructive. Sharing your story should not lead you into or leave you in harms way. If sharing your story is risky, it may be equal parts what your story reveals about you, your past or your associates and the potential of exposure to those involved. Some people simply have no tolerance for being exposed. They would rather destroy you in every way necessary to silence your story than to risk exposure. Knowing who these people are is crucial to your success for sure and possibly even to your very survival.

WHY WOULD THEY BE SO VICIOUS OVER MY STORY?
Have you ever heard of the crabs in a barrel effect? Some people have no tolerance for your story because it speaks of a win they cannot accept. Perhaps you overcame what still holds them back and it makes more sense to them to discredit your story than accept their own failure. Perhaps your victory reveals a flaw in their religious ideology, their political leanings, their social agenda or their current narrative. There are those in power who need the masses to be ignorant to continue their control, their wealth building, their influence. When your story exposes the naked emperor, you must be crazy!! You must be silenced. They have too much to lose.

A simple example: In the last few decades, laws regarding domestic violence have changed drastically... not enough, but a lot. Part of that transformation came from those who finally got fed up and defended their life by taking the life of their abuser. These courageous survivors exposed how the cycle of abuse would cause a wounded one to change their story out of fear of greater abuse. (Good Bye Earl? By the Dixie Chicks) For many decades, the story of the abused was squelched by the abuser for the well-being of the abuser! Another example is happening all across the USA in June of 2020. There is a battle for the narrative! History is written my the victors. That does not always make it right.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?
Tell your story anyway. Ask yourself this: “Is the risk of exposure, ridicule, emotional wounds, public disgrace, damaged reputation, lost career or relationships a price I am willing to pay for the truth of my story to be known?” If the answer is yes, don’t whisper your story in quiet chambers, shout it from the roof tops.

Let me add one significant qualifier of warning and caution.
​This notion of “shout YOUR TRUTH” is utter nonsense. By that I mean, there is an absolute truth. Wrong and right are clear to be known. If your understanding of an event, incident or experience is tainted by your own confirmation bias, your own prejudices, your own desire for revenge, your story will CALL YOU OUT AND EXPOSE your fraudulent heart. I recently saw a meme which declared a profound truth: “DO NOT trust your own tongue when your heart is hurt!”

Work through your own pain, your own shame and your own raw emotions before you declare your story with profound power. That’s why StoryPower Masterclass focuses so intently on the speaker before the speech. A wounded leader wounds people.

Like it or not, if you have a voice, a platform and a story, you have influence. Whether you asked to be a role model or not, you are a leader. Lead responsibly!

​Watch the video #leadingleaderspodcast 6-15-20. #storypower

Leading Leaders Podcast is a short but impactful leadership video, blog and podcast distributed 5 days a week by J Loren Norris to promote faith, family and freedom in the face of a global leadership drought.

Blog & Additional Resources www.jlorennorris.com/storypower
#leadingleaderspodcast #storypower #jlorennorris