Leadership Principle 3: Control your narrative
Last week I re-introduced myself and my multiverse. I want to spend a little time sharing some of the leadership principles that I operate with both my team and clients.
I love politics. From politics, I learned the importance of how a well-crafted narrative can either have positive or negative impacts. I tend to compartmentalise, so I didn't apply this professionally until I had a management conversation years ago.
I was on track for promotion, and I solicited feedback because I needed to understand the political landscape. I was getting the "safe pair of hands" comments that are rarely attributed to leadership if you have been in any corporate environment. I immediately got on that and started to message and give sound bites at the appropriate time to reframe and ensure my narrative was being received the way I intended. It worked.
When I started Build Global, I was told clients wouldn't work with someone like me'. Those comments are not just about narrative, and I could care less in another situation. However, in this case, the minority could influence the majority in a closed network. So I controlled it.
Analise Keating, is ironically guilty of what she's being accused of, but she tells the story she wants to tell, and it works.