The power of storytelling, human-style

Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at London Business School received a standing ovation when she addressed 700 of the world’s leading management thinkers and practitioners at the Thinkers50 London Summit on 3 November.

The recipient of the 2025 Thinkers50 Lifetime Achievement Award for her impact on management practice and thinking, Professor Gratton wowed the audience with a keynote address in which she offered her reflections on the importance of storytelling as society moves towards the 100-year life.

Reflecting on her own story, as well as the lessons she has derived from stories told to her by individuals, teams and organisations, Professor Gratton encouraged the audience to see stories as a way to make sense of long lives.

A firm believer that productivity without nurture equates to burnout and nurture without productivity equates to fragility, she considers that narratives allow us to connect the threads of productivity and nurture and find meaning in the weaving of our lives.

In the workplace, storytelling also has an important role to play in keeping teams cohesive and cultures alive as AI takes over more analytical tasks. As Professor Gratton writes in her latest column for The Times, algorithms ‘can report outcomes, but only stories explain effort, learning and intent… In a world of AI precision, it’s narrative texture that preserves humanity and holds a culture together.’ AI will never know what it’s like to be alive, so tell your story.