Leadership Challenge #7 - How to tell great stories as a remote leader
Happy Saturday,
Welcome back to our weekly newsletter on the future of leadership. This week, we dive into the power of storytelling and why it's a crucial skill for remote leaders.
As always, you'll receive context on why it's important, the big wins from doing it right, and a straightforward guide on how you can enhance your storytelling skills.
Storytelling is the glue between the company and its people
I am sure you’ve all got almost bored by the constant reminder from experts on why a company’s mission is important. I know, I have a yawning reflex that kicks in when I hear “company’s mission.”
One thing, though, is often neglected in that story.
The sheer fact that a company doesn’t have a mission. Their leaders have a mission. Their people have a mission.
It’s like, what’s your company’s voice? Nothing, companies don’t have a voice, it’s BS. The people who work for the company have a voice.
So, when you hear the company’s mission, think about a story instead. And that story acts as the glue between the business and its people. As the leader, founder, CEO, whoever you are, you are the storyteller of that story. It is up to you to tell that story.
The better stories you tell, the more people will listen to you. It is that simple. Storytelling wins hearts, loyalty, commitment, and engagement.
Not everyone is a natural-born storyteller, but anyone can learn how to tell a good story. You just have to understand the anatomy of a good story.
Before we begin this week's practices, let me give you a quick overview of what makes a good story.
A good story has three principles:
It has a simple structure. It is a journey in which you start with nothing, struggle to get through something, have some failures, and then succeed and embrace the wins. Every good story has this structure, whether it is a personal founder’s story or the new Iron Man movie.
It empowers. Empowerment comes with a simple positive message or encouragement. The poor boy gets rich but humble. The woman defies the odds and succeeds. The common human being realizes that he/she is special. You get the picture.
It is inclusive. I’m not talking about DEI terms, but it's more like a good story that makes the listener the hero. The hero is not the company’s founder but those who use its products. Without this, you will have fans but not followers.
You might think otherwise, but we all have good stories to tell. It sounds super cheesy, but everyone's journey is special. You just have to find out how to tell that story.
Stories are even more important in a remote setting. They transcend borders, time zones, and cultures. They connect us regardless of where we are, when we work, what we believe in, or where we come from.
So, as a remote leader, you have to master storytelling. Otherwise, having a presence that connects you to your team will be super hard.
Fear not. Here are my 5 practices that will help you improve this skill. Dive in.
You can do the practices in any chronological order, but going from day 1 to day 5 makes sense without changing the order.
Day 1 - Do your story audit
It might sound weird, but not everyone is capable of recognizing a good story, even if they are the heroes in it. I think it is similar to impostor syndrome.
So first, let’s find the stories within you.
The good stories reflect on the why and the how within your journey.
Think about these questions to find the good stories:
Why did you start your company / Why did you start your leadership career? What was the main motivation? What did you want to achieve?
How did you end up there, and where are you now? What obstacles did you need to overcome to get here?
How did you solve problems? What was your “secret sauce”?
Write your answers down into a document. There is no need to format it; make it freeflow, like a therapy journal.
Day 2 - Format your story
Usually, I don’t recommend starting a presentation document, but I think it is the best option this time. You can also stick to a simple document.
You should have 5 segments (or pages or slides).
1) Your why. What was your motivation to begin your journey?
2) Your struggle. What was the hardship? What were the obstacles?
3) Your solution. How did you overcome your struggle?
4) The win. What’s the win for you? Be bold and share.
5) The win for others. What’s the win for the audience?
An example story should look something like this:
I started from a small garage selling books online.
No one believed in my business, but I knew that I was right. The internet would become a big hit, and I could sell more than books on it.
I launched an online webshop named Amazon. I remained committed to my plan for years before I saw any tangible success. Eventually, my company became a success, and I became a billionaire.
Now, my company empowers millions to start their ecommerce business or simply shop anything from the convenience of their homes on the Internet.
Day 3 - Practice
Call a meeting with someone whom you trust dearly. It doesn’t matter who it is. This time, even family can play. A good story is unbiased.
Tell your framed story.
Ask for feedback.
Ask how listening to the story made them feel. What was not clear? Where would they improve the story?
It might be blasphemy for some, but it is totally fine to fine-tune a story. You are not writing a chapter for the history books (or maybe?), plus, most of the historical stories are full of made-up details. I studied history at the uni, trust me.
Amend your story with some fluffy details if needed. It’s fine. The core story should be truthful, though.
Day 4 - Brief your marketing staff
Marketers are amazing storytellers. Tell them your story.
If you have an in-house marketer, ask them to include this story in your bio, communique, and reference point.
You will tell this story on podcasts, in your LinkedIn bio, on sales calls, and if you have an HR team, this story adds up into a "mission statement” as well.
Long story short: make the story part of your professional life.
Day 5 - Repeat
You can replicate this process into smaller stories now that you have a core story.
Once you’ve done one, it is a shift of mindset. You will look at happenings as things that you can tell to others, even if previously, you were a lousy storyteller.
The best practice is to create a story bank. Write these stories into a document and use them however you want.
This challenge was the last one in this remote leadership development series. Compared to the previous, more practical ones, it was probably the most vague and open. I thought it would be important to close this series with something like this.
Next week, we will sum up the entire challenge, putting the LEGO pieces together.
After that, I will resume ad-hoc weekly emails as summer is approaching. I live 50 meters from the beach in Tuscany, and we all know that remote work’s greatest perk is to enjoy life without borders or limits. :)
See you next week,
Peter
