Imagine you’re in Atlanta, Georgia on an unusually chilly day in early winter.
You encounter a food truck that happens to be selling hot chocolate for $2 a cup.
So you decide to get a cup. And you watch them pull out a pouch of Swiss Miss, dump the powder in a styrofoam cup, add hot water, stir and hand you the cup.
How would that make you feel? How would you value that cup of hot chocolate?
Now, imagine the same unusually chilly day. But this time kids are selling hot chocolate for $2 a cup to raise money to buy gifts for kids at a local shelter.
How would that make you feel? How would you value that cup of hot chocolate?
It’s the exact same cup of instant Swiss Miss! But the story you tell yourself about each cup changes not only how much you value it, but how you feel.
That’s the power of narrative in your life, work life and life’s work.
There are four foundational narratives in our lives:
- Personal narratives: These are the stories about you, your family, hobbies, interests, etc.
- Cultural narratives: These are the stories of world news, history, art, science, etc. we read and hear every day.
- Political narratives: These are the stories about which policies are best for society and who should lead these efforts.
- Business narratives: These are the stories of industries, organizations and professions.
Each of these core narratives have numerous sub-narratives brewing within them.
Take business narratives—my area of specialty. There are numerous types of business narratives. Here are the main ones:
- Career Narratives: These are the stories you tell about who you are, what you do and why. We use career narratives in interviews and when we meet new prospects, partners and peers.
- Professional Narratives: These are the stories told among peers, like marketing professionals, healthcare executives or web developers. Professional narratives are what drive trade associations and events.
- Industry Narratives: These are the stories told within markets and industries. For example, the healthcare industry has an ecosystem of stories shared by policymakers, regulators, executives, physicians, nurses, consultants and vendors.
- Organizational Narratives: These are stories told within companies, as well as the stories organizations tell the public about who they are, what they do and why.
- Product/Service Narratives: These are the stories of what the product/service is, what it does and why it’s needed.
- Cause Narratives: These are stories of societal and social change. Nonprofit organizations, churches and advocacy groups use cause narratives to inspire people to donate their time and money to solving the world’s problems.
- Creation Narratives: These are the stories of how your company, cause, product, service or career came to be.
If all of these narratives could be visualized, they might look like a room full of Venn diagrams.
But here is the idea with which I want to challenge you:
- Have you consciously (and strategically) crafted the business narratives for your work life—who you are, what you do and why?
- When someone asks, “So what do you do?” Do you have an engaging story to tell? Or do you wing it?
- Do you have a clear understanding of how your story fits within your company? Profession? Industry?
Trust me, I wouldn’t believe you if you said you had this figured out.
This takes conscious effort, deliberate practice and an acceptance that your story is dynamic and requires continual tuning and toning.
So let’s kickstart a conversation on this.
Imagine we just met. You were in front of me in line to buy hot chocolate from those kids. Which led to a chat about how cool it is that kids would sit out in the cold to raise money for such a selfless cause.
And then I say, “So tell me about yourself. What do you do?”
How would you respond?
Write your response in the comments. I will try to help you find ways to align your story with your professional goals. And I promise I will be positive and constructive!