Unlock the Power of Narrative in Leadership
New 2025 dates announced
- Wellington, 27 February
- Christchurch, 6 March
Or talk with us about coming to work with your team.
Listen – Share – Connect – Succeed
Outcomes: Conceptual understanding, practical toolkit, your unique leadership narrative, a team story that unites and motivates
Facilitators: Jo Fitzgerald, Colin Rowsell
Contact: jo@jofitzconsulting.co.nz, colin@manonfire.org
“This workshop is a fantastic experience! The sessions are not only fun and engaging but also packed with actionable insights that you can immediately apply in your leadership role.”
Shape Living Stories That Bring Teams and Organisations Together
In a world of constant change, the ability to craft and share compelling stories is a crucial leadership competency. We’ve all experienced the transformative power of a leader who tells great stories: the clarity it brings, the vision it paints, and the profound impact it has on a team’s motivation and performance.
The truth is, every human is a natural story maker. As a leader, tapping into this innate ability can be your most powerful tool for:
- Creating clarity in times of uncertainty
- Inspiring and aligning your team towards a common goal
- Building trust and fostering deep connections
- Driving change and overcoming resistance
- Making complex ideas accessible and memorable
But while we all have this capacity within us, it’s not always easy to harness. Many leaders struggle to ‘get over themselves’, to make their stories real, and to connect deeply with the people around them in a way that truly moves the needle.
Storytelling for Leaders is a workshop experience like no other. From the ancient fundamentals of storytelling in human history and ritual, to insider case studies from cutting-edge startups and the worlds of film, tv, and video game development, we will take you on a journey of applied narrative mastery.
Find out more about storytelling for leaders...
5 Core Beliefs
Jo Fitzgerald and Colin Rowsell are leaders and communicators who’ve led and supported teams through some of the biggest challenges imaginable. Each highly interactive workshop explores 5 core beliefs that hold the keys to effective storytelling:
- The best leaders tell powerful, vulnerable and ambitious stories.
- The stories teams tell themselves are transformative.
- The best stories are created together.
- Listening deeply to each other is the best way to create stories together.
- Everyone has the ability to create and tell stories that make a difference.
Mastering these will transform the way you lead. Our workshop goes beyond simple templates or formulas, showing you how to craft narratives that resonate on a profound level and drive real-world results.
Who This Workshop Is For
- Leaders in public sector organisations and corporates
- Leaders guiding teams through significant change, uncertainty or crisis
- Professionals seeking to enhance their leadership toolkit with powerful storytelling techniques
What Sets Us Apart
- First Principles Approach: Understand the core elements that make stories impactful and memorable
- Real-World Experience: Learn from leaders who have navigated disaster recovery, major public policy programs, startups, and creative development
- Professional Perspective: Gain insights into storytelling techniques used by professionals in film, TV, games, and startup environments
- Interactive and Welcoming: Experience a lively combination of skills and personalities from our expert facilitators – including laughs and The Duck
Workshop Formats
Core Storytelling for Leaders (1 day) Dive deep into storytelling fundamentals and their application in leadership contexts including your own leadership story and your team story.
Other Formats
- Storytelling and your leadership story (4 hours) Understanding and applying good storytelling in your leadership, crafting your own story as a foundation for effective leadership everyday and in dynamic and demanding context’
- Storytelling and your team story (4 hours) Taking the principles of storytelling and applying them to the story your team tells itself to unite, connect and motivate action
- Intensive Storytelling for Leaders (2 days) Comprehensive program including mentoring and activities to shape both your personal leadership story and your team’s narrative
- Introduction to Story Fundamentals (2 hours) A condensed or ‘speed’ session covering the essentials of effective storytelling and how you might think about using it in your leadership
What You’ll Learn
- The psychology behind impactful storytelling
- How to craft your personal leadership story
- Techniques for shaping your team’s narrative
- Applying storytelling in real-life, challenging leadership situations
- Ancient rituals and modern startup methods for effective narrative building
What Participants Are Saying
“It’s only when we have the space and support to think about our story that we can come up with something powerful and empowering.”
“Really useful. It made me think differently about my team and organisation’s narrative.”
Meet Your Facilitators
Jo Fitzgerald
Jo has held senior leadership roles in the NZ public sector, including for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. As a facilitator, she specializes in helping leaders and teams understand themselves and each other better, unlocking the magic that happens when diverse strengths and perspectives come together. Jo has always focused on collaboration, finding areas of agreement even in challenging situations. Her passion is helping people work together better, aiming their self-awareness, passion, and strengths towards making a difference in the world.
Colin Rowsell
Colin brings a rich background in specialist narrative and strategy development across sectors, including startup businesses, growth tech companies, film, TV, and video game production. Known as a dynamic and entertaining presenter, Colin was the first Global Copy Director at Xero and the Head of Strategy at runn.io and the Wellington Chocolate Factory. Alongside his ongoing strategic advisory work, Colin was recently part of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.
Ready to Transform Your Leadership Through Storytelling?
Contact us to learn more about upcoming workshops or to arrange a session for your organisation.
