Beyond Words

How Our Stories and Strategies Inspire Leadership Action

De: Julie Lancaster

Narrado por: Julie Lancaster

Stories turn feeling into action—research shows they increase our willingness to act by 261 percent.

Think about that the next time you click through a graph-heavy quarterly report with your team.

Thirty years ago, Julie Lancaster began studying teams and what causes them to succeed and fail. She’s delivered 900 performance evaluations and worked with teams ranging from college faculty, outdoor educators, cross-cultural teachers, government employees, to board members and has found three consistent takeaways: People love or hate stories depending on how they are told. Personal stories inspire action and connection. A toolkit of practical strategies to draw from gets more successful outcomes.

Beyond Words gives you bite-size, research-based strategies paired with relevant storytelling from Lancaster’s experience that cut through the noise and inspire real action. Whether you are a long-winded storyteller who drones on and takes hostages or you don’t tell any stories at all, you will harvest and develop your own authentic stories that create connection, relevance, and inspiration using the REST Method.

Considering that inspired people are twice as productive, this has massive implications for you, your people, and the team as a whole. By reframing inspiration as something rooted in looking backward to lived experiences, we correct the outdated notion that inspiration is rare or innate. Instead, we find how it can be intentionally cultivated to create workplaces that thrive in an artificial intelligence age—when human stories are more precious than ever.

©2025 Julie Lancaster (P)2025 Julie Lancaster

The power of stories to impact!

I love everything about this book. The way that it focuses on stories, but also give strategies and solutions. I love that it tackles 31 challenges that we all face, and gives hope and a path forward. I love that they are practical ideas and also stories that I deeply connect with. It is content rich. Even though it could be used as a reference book Where you could skip around from chapter to chapter, I recommend reading it cover to cover. It’s so poignant!

Guidebook for Living!

What a great guide for leveling up no matter who you are! I opted for an audiobook because I was interested in what this author had to say but am semi-retired and was skeptical about the personal relevance for me. What a mistake! As I was listening to this captivating author share life advice, I found myself longing for the hardcover version so I could UNDERLINE, HIGHLIGHT, SCRIBBLE NOTES IN THE MARGIN and STAR the key points I want to circle back to. I see myself going through each chapter slowly and intentionally deep diving into all the gems and advice this book contains. There is something in here for EVERYONE. I promise!!!

Interestingly, I was listening to Julie’s advice on my drive from Denver to Colorado Springs where I’d be teaching a four day course to medical professionals. Without even intending to, I noticed how I was naturally introducing stories into my teaching and I was rewarded with engaged faces, laughter and sense that students were hanging on my words and so eager to hear what I would say next. Great feeling!

The audiobook is awesome but I have already ordered the hardcover and I know I will be using it as a practical and accessible source of ideas for leveling up my life! It is chock-full of gems! Highly recommend!

Connection in practical ways

Julie does a wonderful job at describing easy ways in which a person can improve their leadership, but also the ways that they live their life in a more fulfilling purposeful way. It’s a fun read and easy one to follow and extremely practical really for anyone. I appreciate that Julie was the one who narrated the book and her authenticity in sharing her own stories which builds trust with her readers.