Story+PD: Talking about Our Impact
Part of a series at the intersection of Storytelling and Product Development.
We like to know how our offering helps customers, impacts their lives and businesses.
This is what senior leaders do in Purpose-driven companies and nonprofits. And while we in the public see stories emanating from PR departments and Marketing (often with numbers that indicate scale to impress funders and investors) these stories usually start circulating inside the organization.
Impact stories are so important inside product development for keeping the team oriented to the big picture and drive scaling initiatives, but they also motivate the people who spend years of their lives toiling on advanced technologies and discoveries. But impact at scale is only one kind of story that fuels the team.
They may tell the story of the company’s inciting moment and what motivated the founders, or how the values of the company came to be, or the inspiration for the vision for the company. They may tell the story of an internal systems or process innovation that transformed how employees do their work or improved the cost structure and viability of the company.
I’d say some of the most effective stories told internally are human stories from senior leaders who meet with customers face to face. They are able to share impact by frequently refreshing their empathy and writing new stories to inform their decisions and share with others. It has been a privilege in my career to facilitate and guide CEOs and their teams through such immersion experiences.
When purpose is aligned with a human impact, effective leaders tell this story as many ways and as often as they can- internally- and inspire others to do the same.