Telling your story is a critical part of building your brand. It helps to shape how people view you and enables your colleagues and partners to begin forging a connection with you and your company.
As creative leaders, we should not only be competent at what we do, but we should also develop effective communication skills and employ them with those around us (our team, our peers, our network, our managers).
We need to allow more people we interact with to get to know us for who we really are, and not just our job title.
I know it can sound a tad intimidating and maybe even scary to let complete strangers into our inner world. However, in reality you are in the driving seat of what you choose to share. The goal is to curate the information so people can get a better insight into how you think and what your process is.
The matter of fact is that as humans (regardless of whether we are the employee, the manager or the CEO of the company) we all have an interesting story to share. We have life experiences, partners, kids, failures and successes. But most importantly, we have hobbies, passions and dreams.
This is what I call a back story.
And that story, is your competitive advantage. Because you are YOU, nobody can compete with your personality, mindset and story.
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“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories that you tell.” - Seth Godin
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At its core, an effective story structure should be simple.
Just tell people where you were, what happened and why you're telling them the story.
Work from the principle that “less is more".
Here are a few questions to help you uncover your personal story:
→ What brought me to where I am today (the challenges I overcame)?
→ What do I stand for (and what I want to be known for)?
→ What impact do I want to have on the people around me?
It is pertinent to bring up the obvious : your story is not for you.
It's for people to get to know you better and most importantly, to connect and empathise with you.
So it is critical that you articulate your story consistently and accurately, always having the audience in mind.
Humans are wired for stories, so if you can tell your story well, you’ll find that people can more easily understand and connect with you.
There are 3 ways to tell your story : by inspiring, educating or entertaining.
Some people, like my friend Isabel, use their back story to break the ice in meetings. She introduces herself as a "former freestyle rapper obsessed with old school sneakers". How cool is that?
In summary, sharing your story is important.
Having your back story clear for you and your audience will act as your North Star and will guide your short-term and long-term goals so that you can level up your personal credibility in the digital space.
It's also a helpful way to help identify your meaningful purpose.
Now here is the plot twist : it's not only your back story that makes your brand stand out.
It's the combination of purpose, story, zone of genius, mindset and strategy.
But to get people’s attention, you have to be authentic. You have to be unique. A compelling story is the first place to start.