Leadership doesn’t come from a pen or a keyboard, no matter how eloquent your words are. True leadership comes from trust, demonstrated authority, and the ability to create a deep, lasting connection.
To be a leader, you need a story that moves people’s hearts.
And you need to communicate that story consistently, repeatedly, and in an authentic way.
According to one estimate, most leaders undercommunicate by a factor of 10. [source] No wonder they struggle to make their visions clear.
There are a few crucial steps to developing a compelling leadership story.
- Define your audience. Who are you trying to reach? What do they truly care about? Successfully defining your audience means doing your research, understanding their needs and dreams, and listening.
- Develop your narrative. You need to establish a relatable and trustworthy lead character that your audience can relate to. Then, define a significant challenge that the audience cares about and show how they can overcome that challenge — just like your lead character. Put those elements together, and you’ve got a winning narrative. You’ll be able to use that narrative to deliver messages that resonate and that people will remember and respond to.
- Forge connections. Once you know who you’re talking to and what they want to hear, you can begin creating content and communities that establish connections. Your audience now becomes your tribe: A community of people who feel that they have something in common with each other, and with you, because of your shared stories.
- Demonstrate leadership, repeatedly and consistently. When you can spark connections in readers’ hearts and minds, that’s when the magic happens. That’s when people start to seek you out because you make them feel good, inspire them, or get them excited about their own potential — not just yours. When you repeat your stories in a consistent, repeatable way, those stories become mantras that gain power with every repetition. You build trust and recognition — and your influence grows.
Hi. My name is Dylan Tweney. I’m a former tech journalist whose career has included leadership roles at WIRED and VentureBeat.
I have over a decade of experience helping brands like Samsung, Upwork, DemandBase, and Quantcast develop thought leadership content and tell their stories.
I can help you, too. Let’s start a conversation.
