Essential skills for a CEO: Storytelling

CEOs should never underestimate the importance of communication. No matter the size of your business, whether it’s a start-up or a multinational, you need to be able to connect with your team, your customers, and your industry through a wide range of different channels. But it’s not always easy; packed diaries, confidential negotiations, fast-moving situations, and remote and hybrid working patterns can all make it harder for CEOs to reach the people who matter most. 

Throughout my career, I’ve found storytelling to be one of the most effective ways to inspire people and foster trust and loyalty. The way you choose to tell stories might be different from my mine, but speaking honestly, building a compelling narrative, and communicating a vision of what could happen in the next year, five, or even ten years are essential skills for any CEO.

Envision the end goal

Personally, I like to deliver these messages in person whenever possible. While emails, instant messages, and video calls have their place, especially in a large organisation, I don’t think that digital mediums can ever fully convey passion as well as an in-person interaction.

Passion is vital. As is not being afraid to be brutally honest at times. It can be a tough line to tread; an effective CEO needs to sell the dream and share their vision for the future – a vision that might take several years to become reality – while also being truthful when times get tough. I strongly believe that people work best when they feel like they’re a part of something. Each employee must understand the role they have to play and what they’re working towards. Otherwise, they’ll still come in and do their jobs, but they won’t feel connected to your business or invested in its journey. You’ll also struggle to attract the best people and build a strong team.

Honesty and authenticity

Of course, business isn’t always easy, and the journey we’re on is unlikely to follow a straightforward upward trajectory, as much as we’d like it to. That’s where honesty comes in.

As a CEO, there’s no value in me telling a story that everything is fine if it isn’t. 247 Group has faced multiple challenges over the year: the 2008 financial crash, the COVID-19 pandemic, organisational restructures, and large-scale shifts in strategy to name just a few. I can’t truly inspire my team or authentically share the business’ achievements if I’m not also prepared to share when things are difficult, and I need to make hard decisions.

That’s also one of the reasons why I think it’s important to share stories from our past – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not only does this serve to reassure the team that we’ve faced challenges before and come out the other side even stronger, but it also helps me find common threads that will resonate with everyone, from our longest serving employees to our new starters.

In many ways, my brother and I aren’t too far away from the people we were when we started out. Back when all we had was an idea, a small team, and a commitment to hard graft. And I’m not afraid to admit that we’ve made mistakes. The only way that I can create a culture that is brave, innovative, and successful is to be honest about the times that I’ve messed up but picked myself up again. While perhaps not everyone will like me, my ability to tell this story can help me earn their respect. 

Storytelling in the wider team

As I’ve progressed and developed in my role as CEO, I’ve also come to understand how important it is that my leadership team are storytellers too. This cultural alignment and shared ability to inspire a team can help unite on-site and hybrid workers in a fast-growing organisation. I hope to empower every leader to tell stories in the way that works for them; whether that’s our CTO, Dan Graham, speaking with his developers on daily video stand-up calls or our Sales Director, Steve Lyons, delivering inspiring speeches to over 200 people from the podium on our sales floor.

I’ve also made a commitment to continue storytelling, no matter what. It’s all too easy to put it off, especially when times are harder, but I feel that the value of holding a bi-monthly town hall far outweighs any inconvenience. Town halls are my opportunity to speak directly to the entire team, for them to hear the truth from me, and for me to reiterate our vision and reignite their passion and energy.

Recognition has also become an important element in my stories; I love highlighting individual and team achievements and sharing their stories too. My own story might not resonate with everyone, but someone who has worked their way up from the sales floor to team manager or an employee that has completed a company-sponsored apprenticeship and earned a new qualification could strike a chord.

Start telling stories, to your team, to your customers, to your investors, and your industry. I’ve learned from experience that nothing is more effective than storytelling when you need to form connections, inspire people, deliver keys messages, and establish a strong culture. And I promise, no matter your goal, your stories are worth telling.