Good stories as powerful tools to change the world, by Victor Oladokun

For more than three decades, I’ve attempted to weave threads of inspirational storytelling into issues of faith, leadership, development, nation-building, creativity, and implementable innovative ideas.

The bottom line is that every where you look and every life you come across, there is a story waiting to be told.

For many years, along with my dear friend and colleague, Kathy Edwards, we anchored the globally watched TV newscast CBN World News. And later on Turning Point. Each week, we shared powerful, inspirational and life-changing stories from around the world. Till today, I still get stopped by complete strangers who remind me of what their favorite story was and why.

Stories … good stories are powerful. They are hard wired into the fabric of our DNA.

Personally and professionally, telling stories and shaping narratives have been at the core of what I’ve done all my life. It requires certain skills. An intuitive sense. Keen insights. Attention to detail. Empathy. Sensitivity. Resilience. Determination.

It’s a mindset that has shaped my approach to broadcasting, communication, PR, media, branding, leadership, and narrative shaping, either as a managing producer at CBN International, as a senior PR Manager at Cadbury Nigeria, as the head of Public Relations at the Leventis Group, as a corporate consultant, as a Director of Communication at the African Development Bank Group, or in my current role as Senior Communication Advisor to the Bank’s President, where with a gifted team we help guide and implement strategies that uplift a continent on the move.

My passion for history reminds me that every story, past and present, holds a lesson that can inspire the future.

Recently, in the quiet corners of my soul, I found myself drawn to a man named Miroslav Tichý, a reclusive Czech photographer whose life speaks to me across time and borders. In the small town of Kyjov, Tichý wandered around with cameras he crafted from cardboard, tin cans, and lenses polished with ash and dreams.

In 1948, when he was 22, the Communists took over Czechoslovakia. Under the weight of a repressive regime, he captured glimpses of beauty, of people and places. He transformed ordinary moments and through his blurry rugged prints turned them into visual poetry. His life, devoid of wealth or recognition, was no barrier to his boundless imagination.

Tichý’s story stirs something deep within me, a reminder that creativity thrives not in abundance but in the courage to reimagine what’s at hand.

As a broadcaster and communicator, I have learned to find the most redemptive stories in the midst of chaos. I learned to distill truth from noise. I’ve learned to build bridges with words, and to turn visions into reality.

Like Tichý, I’ve faced many life challenges. More than many would imagine. Like countless others in our profession, I’ve also faced the constraints of impossibly tight deadlines, limited resources, or the pressure to conform or to bow.
It is for these reasons that Tichý’s life whispers to me.

His life simply says, “limitations are invitations to innovate.” Whether I’m crafting a news story or shaping a corporate narrative, or advising on Africa’s development, I’ve seen how the simplest tools … empathy, clarity, passion and determination … can create something truly extraordinary.

So, what can we learn from this unlikely visionary?

📷 For those who lament a lack of resources, technology, time or opportunity, Tichý’s story is a quiet rebellion against excuses. Leadership isn’t about having the best tools. It’s about making the most of what you have. Tichý didn’t wait for a perfect camera or a conducive environment. He created his own path with what he could find. He proved that constraints are not the end of ambition but the beginning of invention.

📷 On a personal level, Tichý teaches us that excellence doesn’t require permission or polish. His photographs, though rough and unconventional, hang in galleries worldwide, from Paris to New York. When you feel stuck, or that you lack the “right” conditions to succeed, remember Tichý’s lens may have been cloudy yet it was clear in its purpose.

📷 To the dreamers who feel held back by circumstances, stop waiting for the ideal moment or the fanciest gear. Like Miroslav Tichý, take what you have, however humble, and start where you are. Leadership is forged in action, not in abundance.

📷 Do you feel like you’re stuck in life with help coming from nowhere. Flip the script! Like Tichý, turn limitation into liberation. Start where you stand. Use what you’ve got. Let every scratch and blur become your signature. You’re are NOT being held back. You’re being set up to rise.

📷 So, ignite that spark that has always been on the inside of you! Grab your own “cardboard camera” of courage. Aim it at your goals … and shoot! Let every scratch be your signature. The world is waiting to see what you’ll create. Not because you have everything, but because you dared to begin with anything.

📷 Has anyone told you that you are not enough or that your dream is impossible. Take heart. With God all things are possible to those who believe.

Remember, the world doesn’t owe you an opportunity. It dares you to create it.

Like Tichý, it may look like the world has conspired against you. But you can and you will survive and soar above every limitation and adversity.

You’ve got this. Now go make it happen.

–Oladokun (PhD) is Senior Communications Consultant to the President of AfDB