Introduction: Storytelling, Storylistening, and the Stories About Your Boss

We might not always realize it, but stories are everywhere! And if the culture and leadership style of a given company allow for it, they will also be recognized as an invaluable resource. Even when they are ignored on the surface, they are still pulling the strings behind the scenes. The evolution toward becoming a narrative organization involves distinct and characteristic steps: from the traditional fact-based foundation along storytelling and storylistening to a stage at which the executives and employees of a mature narrative organization fully realize and acknowledge that narrative structures, i.e., the basic components from which stories are built, lie at the core of nearly every process. This completely new perspective is one major step for any company to develop into a sustainable, future-oriented organization.