Time to tell a different story? Positive and negative follower perceptions of their leaders' storytelling

Abstract

Purpose – Defying conventional wisdom, leaders' storytelling may have ambiguous and even negative effects on followers. Built upon transformational leadership and leader -member exchange theory, the intention-perception model of storytelling in leadership provides a framework to systematically explain when and why unintended effects of storytelling happen. Despite its theoretical and practical relevance, a quantitative evaluation of the model's main assumptions, and particularly of followers' perceptions of leader storytelling, is still pending. Design/methodology/approach – The authors developed a scale to assess followers' story perceptions in study 1 (N = 79) and confirmed the scale's structure in study 2, an online cross-sectional field study (N = 60). In study 2, the authors also tested a main assumption of the intention-perception model of storytelling, that is, the relationship between followers' story perceptions and story effects, mediated via followers' affective arousal. Findings – Data revealed that story effects indeed depend on followers' perception of the story. In particular, the better a leader's story met followers' needs (need-supply fit), the more adequate the input load transported by the story (story load), the more positive followers' appraisal of their leader's story (story appraisal) and the more positive affective reactions and positive effects of storytelling (transformation, leader -member exchange quality, and trust in the leader) followers perceived. Practical implications – The authors provide practical insights into how leaders may improve their storytelling by tailoring their stories to the expectations and needs of their followers. Originality/value – Taking a follower-centric perspective on a common leadership practice (i.e. storytelling), the present research provides first support for the intention-perception model of storytelling in leadership.

Keywords

• Storytelling
• Leadership
• Intention-perception shift
• Transformational leadership
• LMX