Why Storytelling Matters When Changing Company Culture

Why Storytelling Matters When Changing Company Culture

From HBR On Leadership by Harvard Business Review

March 4, 2026 · 31 min · Episode 151

About this episode

Jay Barney discusses the importance of storytelling in driving cultural change within organizations.

Jay Barney, a professor at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, studied leaders who successfully led culture change and found one thing in common: they created and spread authentic and memorable stories. The new stories then emanated throughout the workforce and rewrote the old narrative. Barney explains the six rules leaders need to follow to drive cultural change with storytelling.

People in this episode

Guest: Jay Barney

Topics covered

  • storytelling
  • company culture
  • leadership
  • cultural change
  • organizational narrative

Keywords

  • storytelling
  • company culture
  • leadership
  • cultural change
  • narrative
  • authentic stories
  • workforce

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business

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