Michèle Paulin

Dr. Paulin has a law degree (Université de Sherbrooke, licence en droit, LLB), an Executive MBA (Concordia University), a PhD in Marketing (l'Université du Québec à Montréal). She is currently a full professor in the Marketing department at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University and holds a Professorship in Strategic Relationship Professorship with the Royal Bank of Canada (2010-2020). She has taught in Europe, Africa and at l'UQÀM and Concordia, published more than 50 articles, colloquia, and participated to international conferences with academics and business leaders. Her research has been oriented towards strategic relational marketing issues and the customer experience taking into consideration the community, at large. Her interests are now oriented towards educating the next generations. She has decided to step out of traditional and conventional research and teaching to address herself to a larger public with the ambition to touch sensitive subjects that concern decision leaders, businesses, and citizens. Her first book is part of a trilogy on relational competencies and the importance of humanities through three fundamental methods: conversations, dream and creativity, and self-mockery.

Dr. Paulin published her first book: Tout est parfait, tout le monde le pense! (available through michelepaulin.com and Amazon). An English version will be ready in 2020. This book is an example of storytelling revealing and applying relational competencies which cannot be taught through empirical studies and/or experimentations. It explores complex issues by a unique, practical, erudite and often amusing theatrical experiences of conversation between a troubled businessman and a master of personal transformation. A typical “reader” participates in this dynamic process by offering reflections throughout each of the five phases of this conversation. This effective creative communication eventually leads to the businessman’s personal contentment, happiness and effectiveness at improving the well-being of his entourage and society.

Storytelling describes the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics, or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation or instilling moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view. Communicating by using storytelling techniques can be a more compelling and effective route of delivering information than that of using only dry facts." (worldwide definition shared on wikipedia). Storytelling has traditionally been used by academics, mostly driven by ethnographic research in anthropology and in sociology.

From research to teaching, storytelling is becoming a trend in marketing practice and in the business field to foster knowledge transfer and to assimilate the impact of our decisions on others. Boris (Harvard Business Publication, 2017) illustrates that storytelling is one of the most powerful means that leaders have to influence, teach, and inspire. They can build familiarity and trust allowing the reader to enter the story from where they are presently. Good storytelling can contain multiple meanings so they’re surprisingly economical in conveying complex and abstract ideas. Whitler (Forbes, leadership section, 2018) summarizes three major reasons that justify the storytelling method : a) develop a deeper connection with the audience, to unite people and drive them in deeper connections, fundamental to human experience, b) empower the method of learning not from a "rational and cognitive transactional distance" but from a "living perspective" through observations, first-hand experiences and shared stories in order to test models and be able to review them because social landscapes/markets are alive, turbulent and uncertain dynamic entities and they are composed of actors playing subsequently and simultaneously different roles (customers, educators, citizen, organization/institution representatives, etc.), c) move from strategy to tactical approach in fragmented markets and complex media webs to understand the complexities in the simultaneous interactions (physical face-to-face and distance through Internet, social media, artificial intelligence and robotics).