Page 211 - The New Gold Standard

Turn Wow into Action
that links a set of events in some kind of causal sequence. Story-
telling can translate those dry and abstract numbers into com-
pelling pictures of a leader’s goals.” Similarly, Noel M. Tichy
indicates in The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies
Build Leaders at Every Level that “the best way to get humans to
venture into unknown terrain is to make that terrain familiar
and desirable by taking them there first in their imaginations.”
At Ritz-Carlton, Wow stories bring to life a compelling vision
of leadership’s goals while helping staff venture into the often-
vague terrain of memorable customer experiences.

STRIKING GOLD

D What methods do you have in place to capture positive sto-
ries of service excellence or other highly valued employee
behaviors?

D What forum do you have in which to routinely share these
stories?

D Do you tell stories that reinforce core cultural values and
paint compelling pictures of your goals?

C Functional D

Beyond the basic benefits of corporate storytelling, leadership
at Ritz-Carlton understands the power of defining excellence
through example. President Simon Cooper notes, “It’s not just
that a story is being told but that it is being told to 40,000 people
and the story reflects what we as leaders want our Ladies and
Gentlemen to consistently deliver.” The strategic nature of Wow
story selection is best demonstrated by how such stories reflect
all levels of employee behavior that are valued by leadership.
As you recall from Chapter 3, the 12 Service Values at Ritz-
Carlton are divided into three categories (Functional, Emotional

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