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Stop presenting your strategy and start communicating it

Download our free article and learn how you can use story to create a strong, ongoing connection to your company strategy.

On a rainy Seattle afternoon in 2015, I watched a small group of Microsoft employees trying hard to avoid eye contact with their General Manager onstage. He had just rehearsed the new strategy launch and was expecting feedback. Finally, a brave programmer raised his hand: “To be honest, it didn’t really connect …” was the harsh verdict. The GM was shocked, but he shouldn’t have been.

The disconnect occurs because developing a strategy is primarily a rational thinking process, while communicating a strategy primarily involves human connection. Leaders are often heavily invested in the creation part, with comparatively little effort spent on the communications side. This is a travesty given what’s at stake – the very success of a strategy relies on people at all levels ‘getting it’ and being clear on ways that they can personally contribute.

So how do you create a strong connection to a strategy that continues to evolve? Slick presentations, messaging toolkits, or engagement campaigns are not enough.

Download our free article and learn how to:

• Use a narrative framework to communicate your strategy so that your people understand why it was chosen and why change is needed;
• Collect and tell anecdotes to personally connect with your audience, and so that your strategy becomes a dynamic, ongoing, ‘living’ narrative; and
• Tackle anti-stories head-on, building credibility and excitement.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Ichilcik is a Principal in the Sydney office of Anecdote, the world’s largest business storytelling company. He is an expert facilitator and story consultant having worked with C-level leaders across the globe to bring strategy and transformation efforts to life.

Paul is a former management consultant and prior to Anecdote he worked in the US, in executive communications roles for Amazon, Microsoft and a San Francisco brand agency. He is passionate about creating compelling business narratives and putting stories to work in a practical way.