Once Upon A Leader: Create Culture & Navigate Change With Vision, Integrity, Adaptability, & Influence by Sally M. Evans
We’re going back to the beginning – to four stories so simple a child could tell them, and so true, they still whisper to the hearts of grown-ups.
By the end of this book, you’ll know their message by heart, not as fairy tales, but as reminders of what real leadership was always meant to be.
Leaders are not underinvesting in development. Quite the opposite. Four hundred billion dollars. That’s enough to buy every employee a decent latte every single day for a year and still have money left over for the fancy oat milk. Instead, we’re spending it on training programs that vanish faster than free donuts in a break room.
The results tell a devastating story:
• Only %10% of programs deliver measurable results.
• Employee engagement has stagnated at 33% for more than a decade.
• Over 40% of employees don’t believe their leaders truly listen.
• Lack of trust drives nearly half of all resistance to change.
The money is there. The effort is there. What’s missing is impact. The problem is delivery and retention.
We remember stories. We trust stories. We learn through stories.
So why, in business, when the stakes are so high, do we push stories aside?
The science is measurable. From Stanford’s memory research to Princeton’s neural coupling studies, from oxytocin findings to mirror neuron science, the evidence is clear: stories literally rewire the brain for empathy, trust, and action.
Story isn’t fluff. It’s function. What story will you tell on Monday morning?
