The Importance of War Stories.

Why is telling war stories in a work or interview context so important?

You become memorable! A recitation of your skills or facts will put people to sleep, and the key points about yourself will not stick in their minds.
Stories are shorthand for what is most relevant about you. Choose stories that showcase your skills, knowledge of an industry, your work style with teams, etc. A managing partner of a leading Silicon Valley office noticed when she was a junior associate at lunch-time department meetings that all the go-getters would swap war stories. She credits her participation in this ritual for helping her succeed there because people could envision her as a capable leader.
Through your stories, you can be authentic and show your passion. It’s always easier to be a zealous advocate for your client than for yourself, so tell stories about how you helped others. And then you are indirectly advocating for yourself.
Experts have discussed the importance of stories in interviewing. Laszlo Bock, head of all hiring at Google, says his best advice for job interviews in a recent NYT article is to follow this formula: “What you want to do is say: ‘Here’s the attribute I’m going to demonstrate, here’s the story demonstrating it; here’s how the story demonstrated that attribute.’”