Storytelling AND Speaker Coaching for Leaders

Leadership = Storytelling 

 Richard Branson says a CEO has four jobs: 

1. Craft and communicate the Vision
2. Hire the best Talent.
3. Give them the Tools 
4. Get out of the Way

 Storytelling is key to 1. and 2. 

Your leadership is defined by how people react or respond to you - by what you say and how you say it, and how you act.

As leader you have the agency, authority and responsibility to influence the stories told about you and your organisation. Whatever your title - you are the Chief Storytelling Officer.

Become great at storytelling. It's your JD.

Tell your story or be a victim of stories told about you. Whether you like it or not, everyone key to your success already has a story about you in their head. It is your job to shape it, not delegate it.

Your storytelling ability defines your leadership - and the future success both of you and your organisation.

Whatever your background, expertise or title - the reality of your job and your most significant function is Chief Storytelling Officer.

People live by narrative. We understand the world we live in through the stories we are told (and choose to believe). Stories that make sense of the chaos. 

Storytelling impacts on: Company Culture.Trust. Empathy. Diversity. Authenticity. 

Plus ALL your hard numbers. They're connected. Hard-wired.  

You have lots of critical internal and external audiences, the focus is on you. Investors, financial analysts, the banks, the markets and your customers examine your background and analyse everything you say or do to death.

The media can determine your future. They also love stories. They prefer bad ones but can be persuaded to print good ones. 

It went better than I could have dreamed. Thanks! Fantastic event and lots of positive coverage off the back of it including 3 TV interview, 13 radio and countless newspaper articles. the speech went down a storm, thanks for your assistance on that. The gags got a good laugh and the applause at the end was long. CEO

The same is true for social media. They are, we are, all storytellers! They, we, all like good and bad stories. If you don't give them your story, if you leave a story vacuum, they'll write their own stories about you. You probably won't like them - bad stories sell better and more easily. 

These things matter:

What you do, what you say and how you say it

Your Board’s focus, behaviour and loyalty - and the support of your Chairman - depend on what you do, what you say and how you say it. Your senior leadership team listen and watch closely and cascade their perceptions of you - whether you like it or not.

Your employees make up their own minds - based on what they hear from you directly, what they hear from others and what they see.

Communicating will help you turn ideas, plans, and vision statements into tangible results. It can also help you change or mould behaviour. You may need to bypass communication blockages. What you say and how you say it is key to your success.

Imagine... a 2% shift in one of your key numbers

Imagine what your top and bottom line would look like if you could achieve just a 2% shift in ONE of your key numbers:

Turnover, margin, cost of materials, bid-win ratios, productivity, investor relationships, recruitment costs, unwanted churn, absenteeism, talent recruitment, talent engagement and talent retention. Revenue. Costs. Margin. Productivity. Innovation. Attracting talent. Engaging talent. Retaining talent. De-risking. Reputation. Sustainability - all three types.

All are key to your success, so how well you address and engage these demanding and wide-ranging stakeholders depends on your storytelling ability as CEO.

Clear, warm, and transparent storytelling from the CEO, and your key C allies - starting with the CFO and COO, can create confidence in crisis and catapult good times into great times.

The ROI on storytelling is huge - great storytelling can transform your results by pulling on ALL these levers and improving ALL these numbers. But it gets better... great storytelling can improve all your numbers year on year. Cumulatively.  

You're brilliant because, you're annoying because, you instantly bore in on the the ONE THING! - CEO

1-2-1 Coaching for CEO's, COO's and CFO's

I have coached people in your position in a variety of industries in Europe, the U.S.A, Asia and Africa and this CEO cross-pollination experience has made me a better coach - always learning.

I have also run, turned around and managed a (tiny) industrial two-site group of three companies with circa 135 people as a wartime CEO over a period of 3 years. So I know and get the intensity and enormity of your responsibility - although on a mini-scale. 

 ... unconventional, but transformational. Or maybe therefore... CEO

Good storytelling can help you improve all your hard numbers: margin, costs, productivity, bid-wins, revenue, productivity, investor relations (how do you quantify this?) and talent recruitment, engagement and retention. Imagine what your bottom line would look like if you could turn the dial on each of those numbers by 2%.

I believe we can do much better than that... I've done it myself and I have seen my clients do that. 

• I can only work with a select number of Tier 1 Clients at a time. These are senior people with busy week-day and personal diaries who sometimes struggle to find "non-operating" or reflective time. 
• I prioritise Tier 1 clients and fit in with them to give them the time and service they deserve, and I organise my diary around them.
• One Tier 1 U.K.-based CEO prefers working with me in person at their home on Sunday mornings - works for me.
• One Tier 1 CEO based in Silicon Valley prefers WhatsApp from his car on his commute home, which means (my) late evening time - works for me.
• One Tier 1 U.K.-based CEO prefers Friday mornings at 05:30 - even - works for me... if I like you...

Let's talk and see if we click

Coaching 1-2-1 at this level requires brutal honesty on my part (where else can you get that?) and significant trust on your part.

 Hiring a coach is a very personal and key decision for you and your future, and the success of that coaching depends on the relationship and the honesty between client and coach. 

Transformational. I have never seen (him) present like this! Chief Strategy Officer in a note to me about their CEO

I am no good to you unless I give you everything, and for that, I need to like you and your WHY. I am also not for everybody, and that's ok too. I am blunt and, in the words of a senior military officer, "unafraid to challenge". I am sure you have enough YES-people already. 

You're perfect for me. You hate bullshit too. I love your blunt, on-point feedback. I couldn't have done it with without you! CEO of an award winning UK Company after a big pitch.   

You don't have time for BS, sugar-coating and "shit-sandwiches"? Good. I don't either.

My clients hire me and often say "give it to me straight!" Good. I can do that. They're never disappointed. It's my default.  

Let’s meet and talk IRL or on Zoom and see if we click? 

Being a wartime* CEO in 2025

Being a CEO (or whatever your title is as a business leader) is a massively challenging, demanding and lonely role that comes with constant pressure and a huge amount of responsibility.

As the head of a company, you are the subject of intense scrutiny and responsible and accountable for making important strategic decisions.

You often have to make these decisions during times of market volatility or economic uncertainty where multiple things are simultaneously up in the air, that will positively or negatively impact the entire organisation and its stakeholders. 

You have to set the overall strategy and direction and make long term decisions on investments and acquisitions, but also  ensure that the company is operating effectively and efficiently in the short term and obeying the tyranny of quarterly and monthly reporting.

Plus there's the whole crisis thing.  

A crisis is just stuff that happens. Jamie Dimon

2025 is the year of every leader being a wartime CEO. After all that happened in 2024, change is happening so fast and on so many fronts that it sometimes feels like fighting several wars and multiple battles while the earth beneath our feet is unstable and shifting - all assumptions are shelved: the only constant is change and uncertainty.

Leading an organisation in these uncertain times demands clear communication - and lots of it. For all stakeholders. They may not all be happy with what you have to say, but they need to hear from you and clear communication is a key part of your role of a business leader. In this, storytelling is your best and most loyal friend!

* Read more about being a wartime CEO in this blogpost by Ben Horowitz from Andreessen Horowitz - yes that guy! You will love it.

I have coached founders from two Andreessen Horowitz a16z portfolio companies, who have been personally coached by Ben. Impressive people in their own right, they rate Ben's brain, humanity and human-ness. Plus he knows what he is talking about. 

https://a16z.com/peacetime-ceo-wartime-ceo/

Good vs. bad Storytelling  

The Coronavirus flushed out some stark examples of vague, clumsy, confusing or cold responses from CEOs.

Good storytellers will reap their deserved harvest from customers, staff, markets and analysts. So will bad ones or those who leave a story-vacuum.

The knives are (always) out. You know that. Your long-term strategic decisions and short-term operational results will define your success, your tenure and your legacy.

It was a hard slog to get where you are. When things get tough you can give up, leave your future to luck to, or tell great stories.

In February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video on Twitter, said to be shot in front of the “Chimeras house” across from Presidential office - a dramatic, visual backdrop which is perfect and eloquent storytelling in itself.

He told the world: "I am here, we are not surrendering. We are fighting. Glory to Ukraine." and reportedly turned down U.S. request to evacuate Kyiv, saying: "I need ammunition, not a ride."

What storytelling! 

Telling leadership stories and reaping the rewards 

Mastering the art of storytelling and public speaking is credited by some of the world's highest-performing and successful business leaders, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, as the most powerful way to clearly communicate your vision, align stakeholders, inspire teams, and drive breakthrough results. 

And you have lots of ongoing and big event storytelling opportunities:

• Talking to existing and prospective customers
• Engaging with the media
• Your AGM speech
• Internal comms sessions - live and online (talking to all of your employees directly is undiluted and powerful) - All Hands/Town Halls/End of Year or Mid-Year Comms 
• Recruiting and speaking with new hires
• Your company-wide emails
• Board meetings
• "Monday meetings"
• SLT sessions
• Talking to the media - local media, national media, your trade press and financial media
• Meetings with analysts and banks

It’s up to you to make the most of those opportunities.

The cavalry isn’t coming. It’s up to you. 

I know. I know. Your diary is rammed, and you never have time, and you bounce from meeting to meeting. 

I get that you are in constant demand every day and that you don't have time to reflect, think or develop from early in the morning until way after everyone else has gone home. 

I haven't been spoken to with such refreshing honesty in 15 years. I probably haven't learnt that much, that quickly, in 15 years either. CEO

But.... I can work to fit in with your schedule. Evenings. Sunday mornings. Early mornings.

Athletes train and are guided by Coaches. So are Doctors. And Soldiers. And Astronauts. They take the time to train and practise.

My favourite clients are those who are, or have been, competitive sportspeople or advanced musicians - they understand the need to find time to practice and how to use a coach. (My favourite clients)

Do YOU have a Coach?

How can you support a tennis player, a football, rugby or other sports team or your country at the Olympics and not have a coach in your own job as a CEO or business leader?

Having a coach is a sign of strength. Google's Eric Schmidt and Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett agree.