We share our culture, beliefs, and ways of life through stories. We champion our strengths and successes, teach life lessons, and expose our vulnerabilities and shortcomings. These are the stories of leaders.

As people, we are believed to be hardwired to respond to stories most over alternative forms we use to share information. What’s more effective, a list of dry facts and figures or an interwoven story that puts us in the heart of the action?

The resulting impact of the story on the brain contributes to the production of “oxytocin.” The hormone, often referred to as the “love hormone,” increases during hugging and orgasm. It also benefits us in treating depression, anxiety, and intestinal discomforts. Oxytocin also contributes to maternal behavior and social bonding.

Oxytocin also builds trust, which is one of storytelling’s primary goals. I experience this when working with groups of leaders within an organization. When I share personal stories, each with a clear point focused on the topic, a connection emerges from the group that allows them to trust whatever lesson I am teaching at that given moment.

Case in point: I recently watched a short series on Netflix titled Luckiest Girl Alive. The lead character, TifAni, tells the story of how she was raped in a private boarding school. Soon after her essay is published in the New York Times Magazine, Ani (the shortened name she goes by as an adult) receives one message after another from other women praising her for her courage to tell the truth. This prompts each of the women who message her to share their own stories of being taken advantage of at some point in their lives.