Tobias Leadership Center Partners with Leadership Story Lab for Transformative Storytelling Retreat

Indianapolis, IN – The Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence at Indiana University is celebrating 20 years of training leaders from across sectors including education, government, nonprofit and for profit. This year, during the November Fellows’ retreat, the Center invited Leadership Story Lab to lead a business storytelling retreat to develop the Fellows’ leadership communication skills.

“At the heart of great leadership is the ability to connect with people on a personal level,” said Christina Smithhisler, managing director of the Tobias Leadership Center. “Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to create these connections, and we were excited to collaborate with Leadership Story Lab for the second year to help our participants develop these essential skills.”

During the storytelling retreat, Leadership Story Lab’s Michelle Dahlenburg led an interactive workshop for the Fellows to experience the transformative power of storytelling. The Fellows were particularly engaged with understanding their audience using Leadership Story Lab’s “Know / Don’t Know” exercise. This challenged them to answer the questions: Who am I actually speaking to, and what are their needs?

“This was a lightbulb moment,” said Dahlenburg, who empowered the Fellows to craft a specific story with a targeted goal for their audience.

“It is clear how Tobias Leadership Center deeply cares about this program and their Fellows,” said Dahlenburg. “I was impressed by the program, hearing about the experiences and impact it has made on them as leaders. It was wonderful to work with a group of people who care deeply about their communities.”

About The Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence at Indiana University:

The Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence at Indiana University prepares leaders for 21st-century challenges. By bridging the gap between knowledge and practice, they empower leaders to develop people, organizations, and communities to solve complex problems. They value inclusion, innovation, impact, and integrity and their focus on leadership across all sectors—corporate, public service, education, religion, medicine, and nonprofit—makes them unique among leadership programs nationwide.

About Leadership Story Lab:
Leadership Story Lab is a women-led business storytelling consultancy, offering coaching, training, and certification in story facilitation. Their strategy, T-Squared (Transaction × Transformation), empowers leaders to meet goals, see differently, and create meaning through authentic communication and connection.