Summary - Deep Dive: Management book of the year
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Storytelling isn’t decoration. It’s not just a way to “sound good” in meetings. As Stefaan Vandist, winner of the 2025 Management Book of the Year, showed in his Deep Dive, storytelling is a strategic force that makes ideas stick, shifts perspectives, and even changes reality.
From wine bars in Copenhagen to the energy transition and AI, Stefaan proved that the right story doesn’t just describe the future, it creates it.
“Sooner or later, everything becomes a story. Your career, your company, your projects.”
3 Key Insights
- Stories make sense of reality. Facts inform, but stories connect emotionally and shape choices.
- Narratives reframe challenges. A wine with a quirky name, or “orange energy” instead of “green,” changes how people engage.
- Optimism is underrated. In a world flooded with fear and doubt, awe and wonder open minds and unlock empathy.
“It’s not because something is true that it works. A story needs to move people.”
Stefaan layered techniques from structure and rhetoric to performance and personal wonder, showing how leaders can turn storytelling into their most powerful tool.
“Fear and doubt put our brains on mute. Awe and wonder open them up.”
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