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About the author
Esther K. Choy is the CEO and Chief Story Facilitator at Leadership Story Lab, where she helps leaders across industries harness the power of story to build trust, ignite change, and inspire action. The author of Let the Story Do the Work and a top contributor to Forbes' Leadership Strategy channel, her work has also been featured in Harvard Business Review, the New York Times, and Entrepreneur magazine. Currently completing her MFA in Creative Writing at DePaul University, Esther blends business rigor with narrative craft to redefine leadership as an act of connection and transformation.
Summary
Are you a sage on the stage—or a guide on the side? Good leaders are one. Great leaders are both.
In a market crowded with books about how to tell your story better, Leading Without Persuading offers a breakthrough approach: leadership storytelling built on uncovering the hidden stories that change everything. Esther Choy turns conventional business storytelling on its head, showing that the real power of story in leadership isn’t only about spotlighting yourself—it’s also about uncovering the overlooked moments, the unseen truths, and the stories waiting inside others that can elevate teams, energize cultures, and drive transformational outcomes.
At the heart of Choy’s approach is what she calls the T² principle: Transaction × Transformation. Storytelling begins with a goal—to win trust, inspire change, or unlock new opportunities—but its real power lies in what follows. As leaders shift how they see their work, their teams, and themselves, they become more attuned to the hidden stories around them—the unspoken insights that, once surfaced, can reshape everything. Story facilitation isn’t just about telling better stories. It’s about building a new way of seeing, connecting, and leading.
When leaders embrace story facilitation, they can:
- Unlock hidden strengths and insights in others
- Resolve conflicts more effectively and empathetically
- Build deep trust and loyalty across all stakeholders
- Boost engagement, belonging, innovation, and resilience
- Strengthen the heartbeat of organizations—and the people within them
In a world saturated with noise, the leaders who will shape the future aren't just speaking—they're enabling the stories that can change everything.
