Explore the effectiveness of data-driven vs. story-led leadership in enhancing team performance. Learn how to strike the perfect balance between data insights and storytelling for team motivation and success.
As a mother and an entrepreneur, my mind fills with worry. This is a story about a structured story technique I use to manage worry. It didn’t used to worry like this. I remember that in my 20s I was much more carefree.
The best investor pitch deck template gives you two things, a great first impression, and the answers to your investor's basic questions. The goal of the pitch deck isn't to include everything, it's to get to meeting #2, which may be pitching a partner, a product demo, or due diligence, depending on your pitch stage. The biggest mistake founders make is start the pitch in a boring way. We'll discuss this more later.
How do you build Habits that Stick? Aristotle once said, “We are the sum of our actions, and therefore our habits make all the difference.” I want to build habits that stick. I want to meditate more, exercise more and eat better. So I downloaded a meditation app, joined a gym and cleared my fridge.
As a leader, you are expected to inspire your team, earn the trust of customers, and paint a vision for the future. All of these responsibilities require amplifying your leadership skills through powerful storytelling.
Product storytelling is complex. A product manager that starts with a simple product and a simple story is quickly surprised at how complex the product story can get as time goes on. Use Kwan's Product Storytelling Framework for B2B vs B2C to manage your product as it evolves.
Influence without authority is the skill that turns a good product manager into a great product manager. Learning this skill is necessary to set you apart.
Just the other day, in my storytelling class, a student asked: how long should an elevator pitch be? Every startup founder and entrepreneur has an elevator pitch. But they are often found scrambling for just the length and right set of ‘power words’ to deliver a winning pitch. What can be particularly stressful about an elevator pitch is that there is no standard. The pitch length varies. You have 30 minutes worth of stuff to say, but an unknown amount of time to say it. And then the other person’s knowledge is also unknown. That makes it necessary to adjust each time, which can be tricky.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker In 1997, Steve Jobs rejoined Apple when the company was 90 days away from bankruptcy and spent a whopping $90M on the “Think Different” campaign that displays no products whatsoever. An outsider might call this an insane move. But the late visionary knew that humans thrive on stories. These stories create a robust company culture, which serves as the fertile ground where a strategy truly bears fruit. Accordingly, as much as the campaign was aimed to revive Apple’s brand, it was about making the folks at Apple see themselves as the protagonists set out to save something worth saving.
‘Let me tell you a story…’ A line that has almost, always earned an immediate interest from the audience.
Picture yourself sitting in a circle around a campfire with your closest friends. One of your friends is telling a story, you lean in, you’re captivated. What is it about that story is drawing you in?
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