More than just chatter around the scuttlebutt, storytelling is a time-proven strategy for sharing values and organizational culture. As an informal communication strategy, it closes the gap between leaders and their subordinates and can reduce complex command philosophy (or corporate strategy) into accessible ideas that are memorable and perpetual. Throughout history, stories have carried the values of great civilizations from ancient Greece to Christendom. They bring memorable images, heroic and devious characters, and are underpinned with moral ideas that connect to the human psyche.
Sea Stories Connect People
In the Navy, Sailors tell sea stories. They typically start, “Back in the day . . .” or “This one time . . .” or “So there I was . . .” Sea stories often are greeted with eye rolls, chuckles, or one-upmanship. When left unchecked, they can go on for hours; sometimes a whole watch can pass without an end to the back-and-forth trade of experience, lore, and exaggeration. My captain typically wanted me as a submarine chief of the boat to keep an eye out for this level of informality, and I was quick to crack down on it . . . except when it was a really good story or when I was the perpetrator.
Stories can be a central part of the internal communication strategy of an organization. Studies have demonstrated the value of storytelling as a corporate communication tool.1 When used to communicate corporate values and reinforce desired cultures, stories can encourage positive behaviors by describing an ideal. It is one thing to post the command philosophy next to the chow line, or to require every new crew member to read Navy policies. It is another thing to sit down with Sailors in the crew’s mess and recall an incident when you learned a valuable lesson or to share the legends and lore of the sea service. Sea stories entertain and teach at the same time.
As a young chief, I was instructed to always be ready to entertain my Sailors. What I did not understand was that implicit in entertaining is relaying a desired lesson. A good sea story will make the training memorable, relate why the lesson is important, communicate values, and use story medicine to clarify and impart understanding.2
Sea Stories Inspire
From Odysseus to the Thresher (SSN-593), stories of heroism and tragedy at sea have been used to emphasize the importance of our values as mariners and caution against complacency and overconfidence. Every submariner knows the story of the loss of the Thresher and how that affects submarine operations more than 50 years later. It carries a solemnity within the submarine force understood by even the newest Sailor on board the boat. It is how the Navy teaches the importance of SubSafe (the submarine safety program) and procedural compliance and honors the memory of those lost.
Likewise, the battle between the USS Constitution and HMS Guerriere has risen to the status of lore in the Navy. The cries of “Huzzah!” from Constitution sailors as the British cannon balls bounced off her sides helps to hold fast the culture of pride and confidence Sailors have in their service. It is part of the culture and history that make it “our” Navy, one that Sailors are proud to claim. The bravery of John Paul Jones, the cunning of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and the brilliance of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover are all part of the Navy’s heritage. They are legends; they are the U.S. Navy’s Odysseus and Lord Nelson.
The sharing of sea stories and storytelling also affect the way Sailors perceive leaders. By sharing their values through the medium of story, leaders make the abstract concrete and complex ideas accessible.3 Stories allow leaders to describe the behaviors they desire, as well as those they disapprove of.4 For this reason, leaders should be selective about the stories they share. Communications should be strategic and thoughtful.
Sea Stories Build Culture
I was selected for chief “back in the day” of the old initiations. When the Navy changed its tactics, leaders cautioned chief petty officers against sharing stories of initiations conducted in the past. To eliminate an undesired behavior in Navy culture, the service must avoid glamorizing it. The old initiation was replaced with stories of heroism. The transition was tied to the heritage of Navy chiefs and created the desired culture through the intentioned use of story. Today, the Navy conducts battle stations, talks about the Battle of Midway, and teaches about the sacrifice of chief petty officers who bravely served the nation.
Storytelling not only helps the Navy define and sustain its culture, but also reveals a path for communication between Sailors and their leaders. By sharing a piece of the past, leaders open themselves to Sailors and give them insight into who they are. Leaders become accessible and vulnerable. This creates an opportunity for those who might not otherwise engage to share their own stories, concerns, and questions. Storytelling can close the gap between people and connect them. In the digital age, when so many people are focused on social media and isolated by the technology that “connects” them, storytelling presents an opportunity for human contact.
The high-tech, high-speed Navy emphasizes efficiency and precision of communication, formality, and procedural compliance. But at the helm of those multibillion-dollar platforms are human beings who are hardwired to seek a connection with other human beings. These Sailors exist in the world and the culture that their leaders build around them. Sharing stories and values ensures that the men and women who go into harm’s way are equipped and connected to their leaders and the legacy of the Navy that makes them proud.
Editor’s note: This essay won second prize in the 2018 Enlisted Essay Contest.
1. S. Spear and S. Roper, “Storytelling in Organisations: Supporting or Subverting Corporate Strategy?” Corporate Communications: An International Journal 21, no. 4 (2016), 516–32.
2. H. Kornberger, The Power of Stories: Nurturing Children’s Imagination and Consciousness (Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books, 2008).
3. K. Snyder, C. Hedlund, P. Ingelsson, and I. Backstrom, “Storytelling: A Co-creative Process to Support Value-Based Leadership, International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences 9, no. 3/4 (2017), 484–97.
4. Ibid.
Master Chief DiPietro is currently assigned as the Submarine Manpower Director at Naval Submarine Support Center in Groton, Connecticut. He has served as chief of the boat on the USS Helena (SSN-725) and Illinois (SSN-786).