What story should I tell?
Have you ever heard there are four stories you need to be able to tell as a leader?
The Origin Story
The Where You Are Going story
The Why You Can’t Stay Here story
The How We Are Going to Get There story
I don’t believe that, and you shouldn’t either.
• • •
Ines was five months into her role as CEO in March 2020 when she realized that she needed to pivot her company to working virtually. They operated in ten different countries and were an office-based culture. The first few weeks, she sent communications focused on information about how to work virtually.
Ines realized she needed to shift to something different.
Employees were concerned for their loved ones, their job and even the company viability.
They needed a reassuring voice and to feel connected to the company culture while working virtually.
It was critical she earned their trust.
The challenge was, she couldn’t think of what to say.
She had been taught there were four types of stories a leader should tell, but how could she tell her employees “Why you can’t stay here” when no one knew how long we would be staying (gestures wildly around) here?
When Ines reached out to me, we established a weekly communication rhythm and a mailbox for employees to submit questions.
This made her visible and accessible to employees and set a weekly expectation.
We then explored the mindset of employees:
What did she want them to know and think differently after each weekly communication?
Where were they struggling?
What questions did they have?
In the middle of this, Ines had a big a-ha moment.
She was used to communicating with the message she wanted to share - without thinking about the audience.
Focusing on the audience and their needs made it easier to come up with the topic.
Each week she defined a different idea for the audience to come away with: hope, navigating uncertainty and resilience.
Each were themes employees were struggling with as the pandemic continued.
Once we had the topic, I’d lead Ines through a series of questions to help her find ideas for stories.
The key to finding a good story isn’t to expand your thinking, it is to narrow it.
Constraints help you come up with ideas. Questions are a great way to try different constraints.
One week she shared a story about a particularly hard project she had been on earlier in her career that made her lose some confidence and what she learned.
Another time it was a story about running out of water while backpacking on vacation.
Another week she used a story about what she learned about the inspiration behind a famous piece of art.
Each of the stories carried takeaway points that reinforced the idea she wanted them to think about that week.
Storytelling is all about authenticity.
Believing there are four stories you have to tell as a leader is inauthentic.
The intent is good as a starting point, but it is limiting.
It doesn't give you the skills to learn how to tell a story for any situation, the true skill that differentiates leaders.
It can feel awkward and forced because it’s lacking the key ingredient, the audience.
It is a canned, one-way message.
Leadership is messy.
The best storytelling is in response to or anticipation of the messiness.
It isn’t prefabricated. It isn’t a prepared story you tell repeatedly.
It is the ability to find the right story at the right time to reinforce the message you want your audience to come away with.
Once you start with the audience, you will realize there are many ideas for stories that help you connect them to the desired outcome.
The first week Ines used a story, the was a 60% increase in views. Comments increased by 78%.
Best of all, employees started emailing her directly.
They responded how they appreciated her sharing stories, making her more relatable. Some even shared stories back with her.
She even heard employees were talking about her stories to one another.
The more Ines used stories; the more employee trust grew.
After a few months, Ines was easily coming up with stories on her own each week.
Each time she did, she was able to challenge and expand employee thinking.
The few times she gave an update without using a story she would get emails asking why there wasn't a story.
She strengthened culture and engagement during the pandemic through storytelling, reinforcing what was valued.
Ines helped everyone feel connected and a sense of belonging.
Not only has the company successfully navigated the past year, they also achieved record client growth.
Something that couldn’t be done with four stories.
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