Stories: Shaping Culture One Narrative at a Time

Name: Shift: Everyday Actions Leaders Can Take to Shift Culture
Author: Meredith Wilson
ISBN: 9780645912401

Apr 27, 2025

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Culture has been shared through storytelling for millennia.
The way we pass on beliefs, behaviours, and ways of working is through the stories we choose to tell — and the stories we choose to let go.

Stories bring values to life.
They connect ideas to real moments.
They show teams what is celebrated, what is tolerated, and what is expected.

Not all stories serve us well.
Some inspire resilience and growth.
Others hold teams in the past, anchoring behaviour to ways of working that no longer fit.

As leaders, we are not just witnesses to the stories around us.
We are curators.
The stories we choose to amplify — and those we quietly retire — shape how culture feels, and how it moves.

This month, look for one story that reflects the culture you want to build:

Share a story that highlights collaboration or adaptability.
Invite your team to surface the stories they believe show what great looks like now.
Listen for the old stories that may no longer serve you, and quietly let them fade.

If you are exploring practical ways to shape culture every day, the Culture Masterclass recording offers tools leaders can use straight away.
(Details below if you would like to explore it.)

What story is your culture telling right now?
Does it invite the leadership you want next — or anchor you to what has already been?

The cultures that grow strongest are the ones where leaders pay close attention to the stories being written every day.

Cultureshift: Everyday Actions to Shift Culture
🖥️ Recording available | $149
Shape culture through everyday leadership actions using the GRASS model — Gatherings, Rituals, Actions, Symbols, Stories.
Learn More: www.meredithwilson.com.au/masterclasses

Thank you for exploring stories with me.

Regards,

Meredith

Culture can take you further than Strategy can imagine.

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Stories: Shaping Culture One Narrative at a Time

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Culture Creates Capacity

Leading Culture with Meredith Wilson. Fortnightly insights and practical shifts for leaders who shape, shift and scale the culture that creates capacity.

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