Storytelling isn't just for old folks and kids. It can help you move forward in your career - both by showing what you've accomplished and by persuading employees to trust you.

讲故事可不是老人和小孩的专利，它可以在事业上助你一臂之力——你可以借此向大家展示你取得的成绩，还能用这种方法获得员工的信任。

Marriott International's Ed Fuller loves to tell stories. One of his favorites is set at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in 1985, where he was general manager. Just a month after it opened, catering sales were $300,000 below budget. "My career is lost," Fuller recalls thinking after a senior executive called and said, "I can't believe it. Bill Marriott is beside himself." The executive said he was flying to Boston and asked Fuller to dinner after "we deal with the problem."

万豪国际（Marriott International）的富毅荣（Ed Fuller）热衷于讲故事。他最津津乐道的故事之一，发生在1985年的波士顿万豪考泼利广场酒店（Marriott Copley Place），那时他在酒店任总经理。就在酒店开业一个月后，餐饮销售额比预算低了30万美元。当时，一位高级主管给他打电话说：“太难以置信了，比尔•马里奥特（万豪董事长兼首席执行官——译注）正大发雷霆。”那位高管还说他正在飞往波士顿的途中，希望在“我们处理完问题”之后与富毅荣共进晚餐。富毅荣回忆道，当时他想：“我的职业生涯完蛋了。”

The "issue," it turned out, was not what Fuller had feared. A Marriott family member had ordered clam chowder; it arrived cold, and the manager hadn't handled it well. That -- not the stumbles of a new boss -- was what Marriott (MAR) cared about. "If [the family] is treated badly, we assume the customer is treated worse," said Fuller, now head of international lodging for Marriott International and author of a book of workplace stories, You Can't Lead With Your Feet on Your Desk, due out next year.

后来富毅荣发现，自己过虑了，那位高管所说的“问题”是，马里奥特家族的一位成员点了碗蛤蜊浓汤，端上来的时候汤已经凉了，而经理没有很好地处理这个问题。也就是说，万豪集团在意的是上面这种问题，而不是新上任的管理者出点什么小错。富毅荣说：“我们可以推想，如果连马里奥特家族的人都招待不好，对其他客人的招待只会更差。” 富毅荣现任万豪集团旗下国际酒店负责人，著有一本关于职场的书，名为《不脚踏实地就无法领先》（You Can't Lead With Your Feet on Your Desk），这本书将于明年出版发行。

Fuller uses that story -- and others -- to teach new managers about Marriott's priorities: serving the customer well, and serving its chowder hot. He also uses storytelling to teach about career advancement, such as the tale of how he and another senior exec started as a security guard and waiter. "They want to see actual examples," Fuller says, noting that 60% of Marriott's hotel managers started as hourly workers. "Storytelling has made me more effective in doing my job."

富毅荣用一系列的故事，向新的管理人员介绍万豪集团看重的事情：为客户提供出色的服务，确保端上来的蛤蜊浓汤是热腾腾的。他也通过讲故事来传授职场升迁的心得，比如他和另一位高管是如何从保安和服务生做起的。富毅荣说：“人们喜欢听到现实生活中的例子。”他注意到，60%的万豪酒店经理是从按小时计费的低级岗位做起的。他还表示：“通过讲故事，我的工作效率更高了。