"Do you have a cause or just an ambition? Over time, as you rack up these varied experiences and assets, your career mission will emerge and become clearer. As you define your "North Star", your career becomes less about a list of roles, and more about a set of themes. As Tiger Airways CEO Tony Davis says, instead of a fixed plan, “you need a thread to your life”."
The Secret: How To Become A Fortune 500 CEO, By Steve Tappin

Three Part Story Structure --
How to Compose a Vivid Story

Context:
1. Scene. When and where? Social sensitivity -- what cultural values are assumed?
2. Agent. Who is the main character? What are they like? Personality type? Unique perspective?
3. Purpose. What does the character want? What is the motivation?
4. Obstacles. What is preventing the attainment of goal? Conflict and crises. Often unexpected.

Action: What happened, often in chronological order. Need specific detail (left brain) and sensory imagery and repetition (right brain).

Result: How does story end? Resolution of dramatic conflict. What is the coda, moral or universal truth?

More on how to write a story

Harnessing the Power of Stories
Learn to tell stories that advocate your ideas and bring others along with you
By Jennifer Aaker, Professor of Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
5.30 minute video lecture -- practical tips on why you should know your signature stories.

What is Your Signature Story in Behavioral Interviews? By KATHRYN WELDS

Candidates increase odds of memorably and skillfully conveying relevant qualifications by preparing “Signature Stories” – theirs alone – to demonstrate how they resourcefully and innovatively:

Solved challenging problems
Improved strained work relationships
Met deadlines and budget
Applied “Lessons Learned”
Initiated transformational change
Demonstrated courage and integrity

It Is in Our Nature to Need Stories By Jag Bhalla, Scientific America, May 8, 2013

Business Stories as Narratives by Kathryn Welds

Use
• Metaphors
• Emotion
• Realism

• Surprise “to sear the entire story in your audience’s long-term memory” because memories consolidate shortly after an event (or its story) happens

• Specific, familiar examples of outcomes that have occurred to individuals like themselves, and vivid individual characterizations

• Style: Use the CAR mnemonic to “drive” a story:

o Context: Sufficiently-detailed time and location of the story to “set the stage” for dramatic action and “lesson”
o Action: Catalyst, turning point, climax and final action towards resolution
o Result: The outcome, and its importance or “lesson learned.