I took a selfie a few years ago in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris…. Michigan.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I appreciate the location, right next to the trout ponds, the lazy bend of the Muskegon River, and the changing colors of the leaves behind my bride Dawnette.  

I flashed back to this picture after a similar selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris…. France.

This picture is interesting to me. The walk past the tower was almost a dreamlike. The grass of the Champ de Mars seemed a bit greener than I’m used to. Next to us the Seine River glided past and the rose bushes framed the Tower.

I contrast these two images because I want to make a point about the difference between knowing about something versus experiencing the event and developing meaning for leadership life stories.

Leadership Life Stories

I try to approach leadership life stories a bit differently. Instead of influence as an end goal, I believe that communication is the starting point. A drive to shared meaning is a primary goal of the leadership process. Through the back and forth of conversation, leadership becomes clear. Practical steps forward are taken by the follower and leader.

I see this different perspective of leadership and communication in a report from Wilfred Drath and Charles Palus. As noted in their Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) report, leadership as meaning-making comes from a constructivist view and “makes sense of an action by placing it within some larger frame.” To approach leadership as meaning-making, an individual figures out why an event or process is important and then begins to frame this understanding within their organizations and communities.

Knowledge is important but having the experience can deepen the shared meaning. 

Ricoeur – Narrative Theory

In France I had the opportunity to dive in on French philosopher Paul Ricoeur. To the doubters, philosophy can be important because it provides a road map for understanding. Ricoeur specifically is interesting because of his narrative theory.

I did not spend much time with Ricoeur in the past. As I understand from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, overall Ricoeur was concerned with how humans have a need for our lives to be intelligible to us. My quick review in AI helped me see that his narrative theory is something I need to spend time with.

Now, I admit that I’m at the pre-school level of understanding and reading this philosopher. I need to read specifically Oneself and Another (1990) and Time and Narrative (1983). I’m focusing here on the idea that stories can help within leadership life stories because of how an individual interprets the fragments of experience.

Connecting the Thinking to the Practical

I want to bring the Eiffel Tower back into the discussion of Ricoeur and suggest that leadership life stories need more than just knowing about something. A leadership life story is most powerful when it is experienced.

Knowing about the Eiffel Tower was cool. I’ve seen the pictures, watched the videos, and saw the replica in Michigan. The big difference in the experience came when I stood beneath the real thing. The scale was different, the wind felt different, the crowds moved differently. Even watching Dawnette lean in and smell a rose made my heart skip and beat faster! The experience of the moment left an impact on me that a picture in Michigan and no book or photo could repeat.

I will be reading Ricoeur in the next few weeks when he talks about the transition from Mimesis I to Mimesis III. My quick dive in the writing tells me that these fragments are organized in a certain way and then an interpreted meaning of experience.

How about you? What steps do you need to take to have the experience?

I’m not saying that you should book the next plane ticket to Paris. But maybe you need to make a decision or have the difficult conversation or take the time for honest reflection. Through Riceour and my trip to Paris, I’m encouraging you to consider not just what you did, but how you made sense of the experience.

Many of these thoughts are coming soon in my new book In Their Steps.

I’m excited to release this in the next few weeks. I hope that you will be one of the first to purchase these thoughts and the practical steps in your journey.