The Leadership Story You Should Tell

Sharing how God formed you as a leader

Most leaders spend years learning how to communicate. We learn how to present a strategy, explain financial results, walk a board through a complex decision, or introduce the next big initiative. We build PowerPoint presentations, dashboards, and executive summaries. Communication is an essential part of leadership. But communication is not storytelling.

A presentation can explain what needs to happen. It can outline a project, describe a process, or report a result. It may even inspire confidence. But it rarely answers the question people are quietly asking: Why should I follow this leader?

Leadership Storytelling

Leadership storytelling is different. It is the intentional sharing of experiences that help people understand the leader behind the position.

Every leader has a story.

Every leader has a story. Not the polished version we think we should have because we watched other successful leaders. Not the version we post because it sounds impressive or garners favor. The real story—the one that explains why we lead the way we do. How the leader has experienced his or her leadership journey, mistakes and all. Stories often create connection before agreement. They help people see the values behind the vision, and that is where trust begins.

In business we often talk about transformation. We want to transform culture, processes, organizations, ministries, and communities. Transformation is the outcome we pursue. But I have started to wonder if we sometimes skip the most important step. Before there is transformation, there was formation.

A Leader’s Formation

Organizations are formed over time. So are cultures. And leaders. Every leader has been formed. Something shaped us long before we were placed in a leadership role. Family. Success. Failure. Loss. Achievement. Fear. Faith. Each experience quietly (or maybe loudly) influenced the way we make decisions, respond to pressure, resolve conflict, and serve others. If we never examine what shaped us, we will struggle to understand how we lead.

That realization changed the questions I asked myself. Instead of focusing on, ‘What kind of leader do I want to become?’ I also ask, ‘What formed the leader I already am?’ Why do I carry so much responsibility myself? Why is it difficult to ask for help? Why do I sometimes feel I still have something to prove? Those are not leadership questions as much as they are formation questions.

I started writing about a significant health event I experienced, and through that process I discovered I was not really writing about the one event of my life. I was writing about what that experience, and many before it, formed in me. The events became the setting. Formation became the story. The deeper I wrote, the more I realized that beneath every chapter was the same question: What has God been shaping in me all along?

I saw the same thing when I reflected on my career. Early in my legal career, I quietly carried impostor syndrome. Every important client and every significant matter came with the fear that someone might eventually discover I was not as capable as they believed. Over time those feelings became less overwhelming, but they never completely disappeared.

Once I stopped hiding that part of my story, I discovered I was not the only one carrying it.

The breakthrough did not come because I finally became confident. It came when I named it, owned it, and spoke about it publicly. Once I stopped hiding that part of my story, I discovered I was not the only one carrying it. My history stopped being about my insecurity and became an invitation for others to acknowledge theirs. Looking back, I can see that those years were part of my development. They shaped the way I encourage young professionals, the way I lead teams, and the grace I try to extend to others who quietly wonder if they are obviously faking it.

Don’t Skip Your Growth Stories

That is why I believe we edit out the wrong stories. We naturally talk about times and events where we looked competent, decisive, and successful. Those stories are true, but they are incomplete. The stories we often edit out—the ones filled with uncertainty, mistakes, questions, and growth—are usually the ones that explain our management style. They are stories that reveal not simply what happened, but what changed us.

For Christian leaders, this matters because our leadership is rooted in a different model. Humility is not pretending we have less influence than we do. It is having the security to tell the truth because our identity is no longer dependent on protecting our image. When we know who we are in Christ, we can admit mistakes, ask for help, and acknowledge that we cannot do this alone. We begin experiencing community the way God intended it—not as people performing strength, but as people growing together.

Leadership Storytelling Shares Who Leaders Are

I want to leave you with a definition of leadership storytelling. Leadership storytelling is intentional sharing of experiences that help people understand who their leader is, not just what they do for the organization. It is about sharing the experiences that reveal what we value, how we have been shaped, and why the work matters. For Christian leaders, it is also an opportunity to reveal character before competence, humility plus authority, and God’s faithfulness over our accomplishments. In the end, the story is not what happened to you. The story is what God formed in you because it happened.

Questions for Reflection:

• What experiences have most shaped the leader I am today?
• What stories do I consistently edit out, and why?
• What beliefs about achievement, success, or worth have quietly influenced my leadership?
• Does my story help people understand my character or simply my accomplishments?
• Am I using my story to serve others or to strengthen my own image?
• What part of my formation might God want to use to encourage someone else?

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Tricia Bell has more than twenty years of experience in the corporate setting, primarily dealing with legal, compliance, and operations issues. In her current role as Chief Risk and Legal Officer for Christian Care Ministry, she leads the legal, procurement, compliance, and public relations/affairs teams. Tricia is from Ohio, lives in Michigan, and is a proud alumnus of Ohio State University. She obtained her law degree from Capital University Law School in Columbus. Tricia is also a board member for Global Christian Relief.