“Baba, tell me a story.”
That was my nightly request growing up in Lebanon. My father would tuck me in and begin:
“kān yā mā kān fī qadīm al-zamān…”
(Once upon a time in ancient times…)
No book. No script. Just pure imagination. He created characters on the spot, weaving tales filled with lessons. And at the end, he would always ask:
“What is the lesson you take from this story?”
Sometimes I resisted the moral because the character sounded too much like me. But every night, I asked for more.
Back then, we had no color TV, no mobile phones, and electricity was more off than on (still is, but we found a workaround called candles and moteur).
My imagination became my playground. Books and Baba’s stories were my MTV and TikTok combined.
It’s hard to imagine life without internet. A time when a weekly trip to the library was exciting.
When people looked into each other’s eyes instead of iPhone screens.
When sharing stories (not likes) was the norm.
Times have changed. Technology evolved. Life is playing out on a modern stage. But the story is as old as time. The actors are still human, and the plot to connect on a human level remains stronger than ever.
And here’s the full-circle moment:
Years later, when my own son looked up at me and said,
“Mama, tell me a story,”
I smiled because I knew what to say:
“Once upon a time…”
Why share this?
Because some of you ask how I learned to tell stories in my posts.
The truth: Storytelling wasn’t a course I took. It was a gift—passed down one bedtime story at a time. One human to another. One generation to the next.
And it taught me something powerful:
✅ Imagination turns scarcity into abundance.
✅ Stories are not entertainment; they are transformation tools.
✅ Leadership IS storytelling—because if you cannot inspire through a story, you will struggle to lead through change.
When you lead, teach, or parent, do not just give instructions.
Give people a story they see themselves in.
A plot that sparks thought. A climax that lingers long after the last word. Make them feel something. Share your story to remind them they are not alone. For yours is the human story.
💡 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺; 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺. They create emotion and connection in ways data never can.
👉 Who told you the first story that shaped the way you lead today?
