Do you want people Embracing the Strategy?
Don’t tell them about it!
Tell them a Story.
Recently I asked a group of over 7000 professionals identified on LinkedIN what would seem to be an obvious question:
“Would you rather attend a Strategy Work Session or the Dentist?”
The people responding ran companies ranging in size from 10 people to more than Ten Thousand. Their titles include President, CEO, Founder, Vice President, CFO, CTO, Director, Chair, General Manager, Partner, and Managing Director.
People you would think are critically interested in the strategy of the company.
In the group of more than 7000 senior executives polled, a whopping 30% indicated they would far prefer to be at the dentist as opposed to a Strategy Work Session. A serious opportunity for improvement clearly exists in Strategy. One executive even sent me a link to a series of videos where an obviously satiric actor as management guru depicts over the sound of Sitar “stop using PowerPoint. There is no power in your points!”
As you can imagine, the responses do not get better as we move throughout the organisation. The Responses to the word “Strategy” find a range from disbelief to apathy and disinterest. As you can imagine, the probability that anyone will recall your large PowerPoint deck or corporate video conference are low and diminishing hourly.
My experience however, shows there is a much better way. In contrast to reciting statistics and showing graphs on slides, tell a story. Your story will be authentic, memorable, and importantly drive action.
How you can unlock the power of storytelling
It is obvious by now that very few people are passionate about EBITDA, Market Share, DSO, Logistics shipment rates, or Margin recovery. While critical to the long term viability of your organisation, this type of discussion are not subjects most of your team will be able to rally around or even remember.
A recent study of senior executives in major firms indicated that retention rates for even the top goals and objectives of the Strategy were dismally low. The potential recall rates and the actionability for follow on are even lower. This explains why the failure rates for new Strategic initiatives involving change are as high as 85%, a statistic which has remained valid and stubbornly high for decades.
How you can be part of the 15% that are successful.
A story however focuses on a different part of our brains, our emotions, and ultimately our memories. When you tell a story well people recall the What, the Why, and the How. I am amazed when I meet people after years by chance in an airport, hotel, or restaurant and they recount “I remember when you talked about …” more than a decade earlier. Stories in action that drive results that count.
How can you shift your next Strategy and the objectives necessary to attain your mutual goals towards a story all of your team can relate to?
My recommendation is to start with your history, your corporate values and organisational beliefs. Why does your company even exist? What are your ambitions for the future? How about your aspirations? Where will you best serve your stakeholders of tomorrow?
Once you understand where you are going, determine how can you explain this in a way that is credible and memorable.“EBITDA at 12.5%,” while an outcome that may be rewarded by the markets, is not the reason we get out of bed in the morning and are excited to come into the office. Instead, explain how what you are all working towards will make a difference in the lives of your customers.
The next step is to consider the obstacles. Speaking about an ambitious strategic goal without addressing barriers is neither credible nor memorable. What must change for all of us to win? I remember hearing an Olympic gold medal winning swimmer explain her challenges, the almost impossible hurdles she needed to shatter, and the grueling steps and nagging doubts on the way to being her best as the world champion. What is it like to dive into freezing water at five am in the morning and miss your times for days one end?
In your organisations, what are your “gold medal” moments? Visualise the harsh challenge in a way that everyone can relate to.
Finally, show where it is we will arrive at. What is our goal that we are all fighting towards? How will we and everyone in our ecosystem recognise we have achieved the climb to the summit, and what will it feel like once we are there?
In telling your story, avoid any acronyms: “management and consultant speak” are the enemy.
You want to work to develop a slogan or line that is easy for everyone to remember and relate to. I consider this akin to the “hook” of a hit song. Everyone knows the ten words, and even after decades can recall them in milliseconds.
One CEO I worked with at a company that was habitually late on new product launches spoke passionately about going to a store and finding the aisle with their products empty, causing customers distress and retailers to miss their bonuses.
The same CEO explained how we could all come together to get products to the customers on time and what it would mean in their homes, in their lives, and to the retail managers charged with making their stores the best. The organisation went on to win the awards for best retail partner internationally, turning the company around in the process.
You can make a difference with storytelling, and your authenticity, memorability, and impact will help you in differentiating your role as a leader for the future that helped everyone to “be their best.”
