Believe Me: Why Your Vision, Brand, and Leadership Need a Bigger Story [Paperback]

Michael Margolis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

If you're an innovator or change-maker, this book sheds new light on how to shift perceptions and get others to believe in what you're doing. BELIEVE ME introduces you to 15 storytelling axioms that will change how you think about your work. Axioms like: People don't really buy your product, solution, or idea, they buy the stories that are attached to it. Each axiom is supported by examples and inspired quotes from recognized luminaries, including Barack Obama, Gloria Steinem, Seth Godin, Tom Peters, and Joseph Campbell.

"Believe Me will help you become the leader you need to be...This manifesto makes an inspired case for the future beyond just branding and the role of storytelling in the business equation." - Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi, Author, The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution

"Right on cue, from the moment I started to read Believe Me, I found myself following Michael's words and realized how much this short but powerful book was going to influence me, my organization and all our partners involved in social entrepreneurship. Margolis' bottom of page advice gave me plenty of practical ways to re-evaluate the power of my professional and personal narratives. I can't wait to re-read this manifesto and begin developing new and more effective stories." - Beverly Schwartz, Vice President, Global Marketing, Ashoka

"In Believe Me, Margolis describes the many factors reshaping the rules of business. If you want to excel as a leader of tomorrow, storytelling is a core thinking skill you can't afford to miss. This short little manifesto is an awesome and provocative addition to any business school curriculum." - Paul Dillon, Manager, Learning Strategies, Schulich Executive Education Centre, York University (Toronto, Canada)

For additional reviews or a free excerpt visit http://www.believemethebook.com

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Margolis helps businesses, non-profits and entrepreneurs get others to believe in their story. With a background in social innovation and cultural anthropology, Michael has been featured in Fast Company, Brandweek, and Storytelling Magazine. As the President of Get Storied, Michael teaches brand storytelling at the business school level, and delivers keynotes and learning programs to clients around the globe. www.getstoried.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Get Storied Press (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984260803
• ISBN-13: 978-0984260805
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #405,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As President of Get Storied, Michael teaches change-makers how to get others to believe in their story. The son of an inventor and artist, Michael is obsessed with storytelling and how ideas get socialized into culture. For the last decade, Michael has worked at the intersection of branding, innovation, and change. An anthropologist by training, and a social entrepreneur by trade, Michael believes storytelling is the software of the creative economy. As the Dean of Story University, Michael teaches online courses like The New About Me; a program for creatives who need a real back story for their personal brand. Michael also curates the Reinvention Summit, a virtual conference on the future of storytelling with 37 speakers and 500+ participants in its first year. His work and ideas have been featured in Fast Company, BrandWeek, and Storytelling Magazine. Through the years, Michael's applied his storytelling frameworks to a range of clients including Audubon, Omnicom, and Zappos.com. Michael is a coach and evaluator for the NYU business plan competition, and co-founded two nonprofits before the age of 23. Michael's book, Believe Me: a Storytelling Manifesto for Change-Makers and Innovators is available on Amazon.com, or for free as a digital download. Michael is left handed, color blind, and eats more chocolate than the average human. His TV guilty pleasures include Celebrity Rehab and Millionaire Matchmaker. www.getstoried.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Something's Got To Be Wrong February 13, 2012

By Samuel M. Stone VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This is a seventeen dollar brochure of an 88-page advertizement of the author's services. The introduction ends at the 20th page, with about another 20 pages of full-page quotes in large prints. The entire book is pretty much the repetition of the title, telling you nothing about practical application. The author can't even seem to tell his own story either.

My "Wow!" is such a book gets 4-5 stars reviews from thirteen people with no other rating. Most of them have reviewed only this book, and others don't look having much credential to give objective reviews.

But, there is a story here. The book was printed in 2009. The hype seems to have cooled down within a few months. The lesson is, if you try to tell a "bigger story" than your own reality, it won't last!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Your Innovation needs a story November 3, 2009

By Jeffrey Phillips VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Imagine if you will, somewhere in the distant recesses of our existence, a group of cavemen huddled around a fire. The wiseman of the group gathers the tribe around the fire and regales them with stories of their ancestors - how they fought the neighboring tribes, how they found the food necessary to survive. The shaman passes on the wisdom of the tribe, and teaches in the process.

Stories are the best way to learn, and the best way to communicate. For some reason, we've lost the sense of story in business. Rather than use stories we opt for hard and fast "facts" that often miss the root causes or issues. There's no story telling class in an MBA program, yet most of the best leaders understand the importance of storytelling, and they lead others by telling and retelling stories. Some of those stories are myths, meant to reinforce the culture. Some of those stories are true, meant to teach and instruct.

I've just had the opportunity to read Michael Margolis' new book Believe Me, which he calls a "storytelling manifesto for change makers and innovators". It is a small, slim book with a lot of good ideas about why story matters and how to reclaim it.

What strikes me about stories in regard to innovation is how little emphasis we place on a story or a narrative. Too often an innovation project is created, but there's no linkage to past work or existing issues. The project seems to exist outside of the framework of the business, and doesn't have a strong linkage or narrative to drive it. Margolis identifies 15 storytelling axioms and notes that storytelling is especially important to innovators. There are a few axioms I'd like to point out:

1. If you want to learn about a culture, listen to its stories. If you want to change a culture, change the stories. I've found that culture is always a barrier to innovation, so changing a culture is important when innovating. Identifying the stories and changing the stories will make innovation more acceptable.

2. The power of a story grows exponentially as more people accept your story as the truth. This axiom played out for us on an innovation project, when we introduced qualitative research to a firm that had not used ethnography successfully before. Our story about our findings and the value of our findings spread through word of mouth and created an entirely new perspective on the use of ethnography.

3. Storytelling is like fortune-telling. The act of choosing a certain story determines the probability of future outcomes. If we choose a story line that we are a simple, safe, slow moving company then that informs the culture and defines who and what we are. If we choose a story line that defines our organization as a risk taking, insightful innovator, that's what we can become. Your story drives your results.

As an innovator, I'd like to start with the story, which will drive the culture to adapt to a new view of itself, and anchor the work within a narrative that we can spread through word of mouth to others. There's a need for a formal communication network, but powerful stories, repeated throughout the organization, do far more to get people on board.

Check out Michael's new book and think about what your story says about your organization, and how you can use story to your advantage.

Cross-posted from my blog Innovate on Purpose

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Change Your Story, Change Your Life! October 28, 2012

By Jared

Format:Paperback

Michael Margolis is the Linchpin in my life. I didn't know how to express myself to the world around me. I felt disconnected all my life, though I keep trying. I was like what Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity was. I keep on trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Though when I stumbled across Michael's work by recommendation when I reached out to someone with an idea. I didn't even know if I would get a response back. Though he said:

"Michael Margolis, a dear friend of mine in NYC, is literally "as good as it gets" in this arena."

My world is forever shattered! It was like having the blindfold taken off after 30 years of how I have been speaking myself into my current life the whole time. Though with this my life is changing in a direction I set. I know feel I have command of the ship and the steering wheel, ha!

Thank You MICHAEL!