#544: The REST Method: How to Turn Hostage-Taking Stories Into Leadership Gold with Julie Lancaster

Are your leadership meetings killing engagement with PowerPoint bullets and 45-item agendas while your team's eyes glaze over? You're stuck in what Park Howell calls the "voice vacuum"—and there's a stupidly simple way out. Julie Lancaster, founder of Lancaster Leadership and author of Beyond Words: How Our Stories & Strategies Inspire Action, reveals the REST method that's helped her team coach over 75,000 leaders through succession planning challenges. She used to hate storytelling—until she discovered how to do it right. Discover the four-step REST framework (Relate, Engage, Short, Theme) that transforms managers into inspirational leaders. Learn the "Life Download" exercise and "Homework for Life" practice that builds your story bank one daily moment at a time. Find out why failure stories create more connection than success stories, and how AI amplifies your storytelling without replacing your human experiences. Julie shares her own medical lab faculty meeting disaster—racing through agendas as Dean of Education while secretly annoyed at questions—and the tiny tweak that changed everything. Perfect for leaders seeking skills, connection, and influence through accessible storytelling. Craft your brilliant brand story strategy in minutes, not months, and instantly create compelling content that converts customers with the StoryCycle Genie™ #StoryOn! ≈Park