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of narratives has been fully appreciated by students of contemporary organizational
culture. We agree with Polkinghorne: “The narrative is a basic form of coherence
for an organization’s realm of meaning, just as it is for an individual’s” (1988, 123).
As we saw in chapter 1, along with norms, values, rituals, and symbols, stories play
a decisive role in shaping the leadership of organizations. Important aspects of
institutional identity can only be communicated in narrative form. The consum-
ing devotion and passionate vision of the founders and leaders of organizations are
passed from generation to generation and group to group as stories that define the
present, not just the past. Two of the most popular and influential management
books of the 1980s and 1990s, In Search of Excellence, by Peters and Waterman
(1982), and The Fifth Discipline, by Senge (1990), reflect a deep sensitivity to the
significance of institutional values and narratives. In the Leader’s Guide to Story-
telling, Stephen Denning (2005) charts the many ways in which business orga-
nizations do, can, and should rely on stories in accomplishing many of the tasks
of leadership. Stories appear to be the epitome of organizational sense making in
Weick’s understanding of the concept. Stories ground identity with reflections
that select the meaning of past events and are enacted and shared with others as
a plausible way to understand ongoing experience (Weick 1991, 1995).
Nowhere is the centrality of narratives clearer than in religious traditions. Juda-
ism, Christianity, and Islam recount narratives about how the divine has appeared
in certain people, places, and events. Jesus of Nazareth taught primarily through
stories and parables and by narrating the impending events that would usher in
God’s Kingdom. Narrative is the basic biblical voice (Borg 1994). Even in the
more conceptual texts of classical Buddhism and Hinduism, stories are nonethe-
less abundant and indispensable, as in the Hindu devotional text the Bhagavad
Gita. The crucial significance of story for leadership is foreshadowed in the ways
that religious leaders such as prophets, teachers, and saviors communicate and
embody narratives about ultimate meaning.
Collegiate Stories
As it is for other organizations and institutions, so it is for colleges and universi-
ties. Stories fill the campus air. The tales of greater and lesser campus comedies
and tragedies of intellectual toil and fulfillment, of academic reward and failure,
of intimacy and conflict, are constantly given voice. They always begin in one of
the basic forms of narrative with “Remember the time... ?” From playing fields
to the laboratory, in offices, classrooms, and studios, from the stage to the library,
every institution creates a wealth of stories in which it displays itself and its values.
The prominent alumni are extolled, legendary leaders are honored, distinguished
professors are celebrated, and great coaches and teams are remembered. Some
academic programs and achievements come to take on iconic status and become
normative legacies and markers of identity. All the smaller and larger stories can
be drawn together and interpreted as part of an inclusive narrative, for they reveal
common beliefs, meanings, commitments, and values that reflect a unique identity.