Get a Strategic Narrative!

Q: What is a Strategic Narrative? Is it just a “story”?

From the moment we say the word “narrative”, we point ourselves directly towards one of the most complex systems in existence—human consciousness. Narratives are fundamental to all the ways we understand ourselves as people. When anyone says ”I AM A…”, they can’t help but speak in narrative. “I am a football fan.” “I am a husband, wife, or parent.” “I am a member of this political party.” “I am a CEO.” “I am a member of this company or community.”

Each of these are very different “types” of narratives.

Just because we call them narratives doesn’t mean that they are made up. Often, these narratives express themselves in the physical world. For example, a football fan might have a ballcap or a jersey or a ring or a tattoo… each of these are physical manifestations of a bigger narrative. But in addition to these physical expressions of narrative, there are also other elements of these “stories” that live inside of us. A memory of a particularly important game. A “feeling” of belonging or even purpose. A recollection of relationships forged during childhood, with parents or friends or community or loved ones… each of these, and many more, are “part of the story”.

Narrative is a rabbit hole.

Similarly, in business, our narratives have both physical and psychological/emotional properties. Think, for example, about a brand—it has the “image”, and then it has all the things it represents. Nike’s brand is a simple line that “anyone” could draw, but contained in that line is a “universe” of associations, memories, narratives. If you look really closely, you’ll see Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan—these people, and many more, are “part” of the narrative. (You can’t really see them in the swoosh.)

Beyond marketing, narrative shows up just about everywhere there are people in organizations. (Because, as people, we can’t help but think in narrative.) Individual leadership narratives, group change narratives. “That won’t work.” “We’ve tried that before.” “That’s not how we do that here.”

Narrative, narrative, narrative. It’s narrative all the way down.

The secret of effective leadership is to approach narrative strategically. As above, that means considering both the physical “expressions” of a narrative—as well as the psychological and emotional elements hidden behind it.

To take just one example, consider the concept of “work-from-home”. For many decades prior to the COVID pandemic, working from home was often looked down upon—it might communicate lack of commitment, lack of value, escaping hard work, etc. Then, suddenly, it was the only alternative.

In a flash, the narrative of work-from-home changed. Quickly, all of us downloaded Zoom; we became used to the challenges and rhythms of collaborating virtually. The narrative started to shift, and many companies approached this shift strategically. Some big Silicon Valley tech companies started to declare that no one would ever have to work from the office again. Other companies demanded that everyone report back to the office the moment that the health crisis had passed.

“WFH Forever!” “Back to the office at once!” These are two of the many, many examples of strategic narratives. Strategic narrative combines communications expressions with the underlying decisions or choices hidden in the background. They are exceptionally complex tools, with an extraordinary impact on all of us.

Again, the secret of leadership is to engage with these narratives head on.

Q: What makes a narrative strategic? What does this have to do with goal-setting, planning and alignment?

The most common mistake that leaders make is they “lead with the facts”. In other words, they take a series of complex goals—like collaboration, creativity and change alignment—and attempt to simplify these down into a logical argument.

The problem with logical argument—as we all know by now—is that the approach doesn’t work when it comes to the realm of psychology, values, and feeling. No one has ever been “argued” into motivation, creativity or love. (Though many, many, many of us have certainly tried.)

As leaders, we simply need to be more intentional if it is our goal to create these more complex outcomes.

Often, this begins by assessing and understanding existing narratives. To take the WFH example again—how do people feel about working from home? What do they like? What don’t they like? How has that affected outcomes? What problems has it solved, and what new problems have been created? Questions like these help to focus a leaders attention on the “right” challenge—and allow them to define the “right” goals.

From there, messaging can be created in service of these goals. Are we setting out to shape new behaviors? Generate innovation? Enlist people to supersede their old potential? Change others? Change themselves? These considerations can inform the actual messaging products, the emails, decks, advertising campaigns, Teams messages, etc. that will go out to stakeholders.

The important insight is that the narrative is not just what is being said, but it’s also what is happening behind the message. The story is not just the story; it’s also expressed in the way the story is told.

In another time, we might have said “the medium is the message”. Narratives become strategic when leaders step back from the literal copy of their message, and consider a wider set of “tools” that will help them achieve their goals.

For example, active, engaged listening is one “tool” that speaks louder than words. It says, “I’m listening, I can be trusted” in a much more impactful way than if someone actually spoke those words.

This broadening of consideration is what elevates communication to strategic narrative.

Q: What is an example of an outcome from a strategic narrative process? Are the deliverables “tangible” or “actionable”?

Certainly. Ultimately, any work on strategic narrative needs to deliver a final outcome in the form of a message; that message will be “targeted” or directed to a particular audience, with a specific goal in mind. The message’s effectiveness will be determined how well it achieves that goal.

Within this, there are many permutations. A strategic narrative process asks questions like:

• Who are we trying to reach? How can we know/understand them better so our message resonates?

• What are our goals? Do our long-term goals align with our short-term goals? How does what we are asking our audiences/stakeholders to do align with the bigger vision?

• What is the best way to reach our audience? Do they prefer reading or watching videos or looking at infographics or commenting on social media posts or…?

So the final outcome can take many forms, depending on the answers to these questions. A strategic narrative could be delivered in the form of a video, explaining an organization’s vision and attempting to inspire employees to change. It could be in a strategic document, like an investor prospectus, that attempts to convince outside capital of the prospects of the business. It could be in the way a new product or service is positioned; it could be a new marketing campaign. It could be a report or an infographic or a white paper or…

The value comes through the time taken in the process. This consideration and thoughtful is what gives the final deliverable its impact.

Q: Can you provide an example of how to go about generating a strategic narrative within a company?

Here is an example case study from my experience. A private, purpose-driven investment firm wanted to improve how it was perceived by a wider, national audience. The first step was to dig into the existing organizational narrative, with the goal of assessing underlying obstacles in its communication.

I began by interviewed each of the partners and a selection of employees, listening deeply for their conscious and unconsciously held narratives—teasing out their assumptions and preconceptions about issues relating to the future and trust. Next, I summarized my insights in a facilitated meeting with the leadership team—helping them digest the feedback and provide further explanation/context about why things weren’t going the way they wanted.

Based on these insights, I helped the partners realize that they needed to restructure their leadership; I could sense that a shift in the leadership function would open new freedom and thinking across their team. Our work turned to positioning this leadership transition into the wider market, focusing much less on “who they were” and much more on “who they were aspiring to be”, as well as the tangible steps that were required to bring that new vision to life.

In the end, the improvement in communication can from a new, internal insight, rather than some expensive/flashy marketing campaign. The value and precision comes through the time taken in the process.