Tell Your (Own) Story

The word “storytelling” is practically a cliche at this point, I realize. But, hold on. Through the lens of building climate influence, it’s really important to understand and to own yours, whether you use the word “story” or not. 

There are many ways of looking at this, but here’s my take as someone who advises on this topic and is convinced there’d be massive impact in building a bigger bench of visible/audible leaders: We need more folks with corporate and political influence to step it UP.

Let’s take a look at the differences between waiting or having your story told by others, versus you doing the telling yourself:

Your story can be told by others: this involves crafting narratives at key moments and hoping that you have the right press lists, and land on the right hook, so that the media pick up on the press release and use the bullet points you really want them to use.

Or, YOU can be the teller: Start laying the groundwork and the narrative cues long before you aim for a big moment or feature story. Who are you? How did leadership in climate and sustainability become important for you, personally? How has that translated into your professional life? How willing are you to get louder and bolder? Show us. Walk that talk.

Your story can be a one-time document, video or press release. You have to hope that people care enough to bother to read it at all, and then how do you continue to reflect relevance beyond that moment?

Or, your story can be a continuing series of hints, reflections, insights and photos shared in a range of ways. This gives people a range of ways to be drawn into your leadership voice. This helps you continue to be relevant all along the way, not relying on the occasional moment to make some massive splash.

Your story can be a fancy, scripted, glam-shot. You can pull all the stops for high quality photos, audio, video media production.

Or, your story can be more strategically created and interwoven over a longer term, and  delivered in easy-to-access, authentic bits.

Your story can simply be about what an amazing leader you are right now, leveraging the aspirational impact. 

Or, your story can be about your “conversion” moment ,when you acknowledged your own human role in climate change, and made the determination to make climate action a key piece of your professional role and leadership. This invites others to see their own journey in some relation to  yours, and will resonate with so many more of your stakeholders. 

You know where I am going with this. 

Your narrative is not a single storybook. The stories with impact are never those that are told once and done. The stories with most impact are not the big photo opp situations on stages at COP. They are the ones where others can easily observe you along your journey towards building trust to follow your thinking and contributions further. 

As a series of authentic events and little moments along the path of your daily life, your story is richer and more relatable. It’s also much more accessible for any media out there looking for climate leadership and solutions stories. 

So, while the word “story” is the container we’ve got, don’t let that container limit you. 

Yours is an ongoing, relatable, accessible and potentially world-shifting tale. 

Helping clients produce theirs, and feel comfortable doing it, is my Climate Influence work. 

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With EMPHASIS on building climate action political will: My latest LinkedIn post maps out the media coverage, leadership, political will-building connection and massive OPPORTUNITY for many more leaders with any sort of platform to support and leverage. I’d love for you to comment/join that conversation there. Here’s an excerpt:

#ClimateMedia coverage emphasizes the dire need for #PoliticalWill

We can all - corporate, nonprofit and individual leaders - add to that political will pressure.

The untapped key lies in how we tell the stories of the #ClimateTech #climatesolutions #sustainability and advocacy campaigns we champion.

Craft your overall story and strategic #mediarelations efforts to fit *just what the journalist seeks at this moment*.

And, that is exactly what leader upon leader says the world needs now: storytelling about your company/solution/leadership as evidence of building political will. (I also started a Swellcast conversation on this topic.)

News To Use

RE: Cities getting their due at COP28 for their potential climate action impact, via World Resources roundup. (I also loved that this piece included the FOOD topic emphasis in Dubai!)

The final COP28 agreement reflects growing understanding of cities as critical climate battlegrounds and partners for action—a fitting recognition since 70% of carbon dioxide emissions come from urban areas. There is enhanced language on “multilevel” action, as well as new language around zero-emission vehicles and reducing health impacts in vulnerable communities, which is particularly relevant for cities as hotbeds of air pollution, flooding, extreme heat and large numbers of vulnerable people.

My context/takeaway: I talked about city and local leadership as climate influence a lot in a recently recorded in interview for An Honorable Profession podcast (hosted by the New Deal Leaders organization), which is scheduled to post on January 4th. About half of the interviews I did for my Living Change podcast were with amazing, and still far too undersung, U.S. (and one from Vancouver, B.C.) city leaders. If we can “ClimateVote” more of these brave and bold brains into office, we’ll build an unstoppable collective of political will. Let’s go!

RE: What does leadership have to do with a sustainably-minded organizational culture? This June 2023 piece from Quantis is worth a read.

Recognize that you are only human and fear can be a powerful barrier to change. Remember that if it’s not truly important to you, it’s not going to be important to anyone else in your organization.

My context/takeaway: This is exactly why I emphasize the idea of “being seen leading” and making it clear that you, as a leader, are also living change. Corporate leaders who themselves publicly live a plant-based lifestyle while forwarding a more plant-based organizational food policy will be more trusted by all stakeholders. City leaders who are seen riding an ebike or taking transit for local transportation will be much more trusted by constituents when they propose progressive transportation policies. This is also how you can better influence a more sustainable organizational culture - by being a leader who, as a human, is seen living change yourself.

RE: The dairy industry is running scared about the uptick in plant-based milk adoption. Read this excellent Drilled piece on their new anti-milk shaming efforts.

As milk alternatives have become increasingly normalized and available over the past few years, “Big Dairy” has been kinda freaking out. OK2Milk  is the latest battle in a war the powerful PR arm of the dairy industry is waging against the plant-based products they see as endangering their future.

My context/takeaway: You know the message about the climate impacts of an industry is reaching social norm-shift momentum when you watch said industry scramble like this. We’ve seen this sort of thing from the oil & gas sector for years. We’ve all got the power to call out these frantic campaigns and get louder about the obvious and ready solutions for eating less meat, eggs and dairy. Let’s do more of it from the corporate and institutional food policy level.

Thanks *so much* for reading/sharing/subscribing. Please comment or message me with questions on building and leveraging climate influence. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on LinkedIn or BlueSky (I also linger on “X”.)

I’ve also launched a Swellcast (audio conversation platform) on climate influence, political will and why my naming and faming approach to leadership platform development works. Please join us there - in 2024, I’ll be adding masterclass topics, behind-the-scenes interviews and more storytelling of examples of corporate, political and cultural climate influence examples in a premium channel.