Story Intelligence: Master Story, Master Life

Story Intelligence-SQ-helps you become a master of your story, a pursuit indispensable to personal and professional success. By developing your SQ, you'll amplify and unleash every aspect of your intelligence, including your IQ and EQ. In this book, you'll also learn how you're wired for story and the ways it can set a positive trajectory for every facet of your life journey.

Developing this level of mastery is imperative today because four in ten Americans have not discovered a satisfying life purpose. Nearly a quarter of us-about one hundred million people-do not have a strong sense of what makes our lives meaningful. We need more than ever ritual fires where we can gather to create new stories that transcend the old metanarratives that no longer enrich and satisfy the yearnings of our hearts and souls. Story is a potent medicine that can re-enchant our lives. By re-storying ourselves, consciously building it into everyday living, we can make space to hear ourselves better, listen more deeply to each other, and discern the tales the earth is quietly whispering in our ears. Hopefully, Story Intelligence will help you stoke a new kind of fire, assisting you in illuminating what the Japanese call "ikigai"-translated loosely as "that which most makes one's life seem worth living." Through mastering story, we believe you can build a more durable source of meaning and personal fulfillment, as well as have a broader impact for good in your community and the world. In this book, you'll also learn how to: harness the power of story to live with greater efficacy; become a more influential communicator; solve complex challenges using story-based solutions; transform your workplace and community; heal old wounds, change dysfunctional beliefs, and bridge differences by resolving deeply seated conflicts; and, acquire the narrative tools to craft a more desirable future.

For the past thirty years, Richard has been assisting organizations across the country to tell their story better. As CEO of StoryWork International, he has been pioneering new approaches to bringing the practical applications of storytelling into all facets of business, healthcare, education, and society. In the healthcare sector, he's the co-creator of StoryCare, a web-based product to help healthcare organizations improve patient safety and help educators better prepare nurses and doctors. Richard also created the LivingStories program for Novant Health, which facilitates patients' telling their life stories to improve their health outcomes. He codeveloped the award-winning board game Pitch-A-Story and is a recognized national speaker in addition to authoring numerous books. When Richard is not writing or telling stories, he is an accomplished visual artist, and you can see some of his work at www.richardstoneart.com. He earned a MS in clinical psychology from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.

Scott has devoted the lion's share of his working career to leading major organizations, first as CEO of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Currently, he's an owner and executive director of Dewey's Bakery, a national purveyor of premium, Southern-inspired cookies and crackers headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. But his real work has always been about story, both defining and executing the brand story of the companies he has led, and through his lifelong exploration of how to use story to impact every facet of his own personal and professional journey. As Chairman of StoryWork International, Scott provides the strategic guidance to the company's direction as he and Richard have developed the MasterStory Experience-a transformational program designed to assist a company and its leaders discover their deeper purpose and how to live it. Scott earned his BS from the University of North Carolina, and he and his wife, Michelle, are active in the community, both through Dewey's and the Livengood Family Foundation.