"𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑪𝑬𝑶 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆."

A compelling narrative doesn't change often, folks

“How do I prevent our CEO from changing the narrative after each call he has with investors? It seems to happy every day.” - B2B tech CMO told me

Ugh. This stinks worse than an eggnog fart. Interviews with and deep thinking from stakeholders, as well as internal testing, go into creating and firming up a narrative. So when the C-suite is flip-floppy, things get ugly.

Marketing gets ticked off. Sales gets confused. If leaders change the story again and again there are two likely root problems:

1️⃣ They're wishy-washy and bend to appease people

2️⃣ The narrative is riddled with flaws and is far from a compelling story

Usually, it's the second issue. And I know you can fix it faster than number one; that's a leadership training dilemma.

Making Gluey Narratives

Narratives are being institutionalized at B2B tech companies more than I’ve ever seen. One thing about them: they don't change frequently. Like, rarely less than 14-18 months. They are long-term plays. They exist to have an audience see the world through your eyes.

A great narrative is gluey and doesn’t change often—I'll explain.

When a company has a compelling narrative, employees AND partners use bits of it during convos. With all kinds of people. It “sticks” to those who talk about a company and those that hear about a company.

Leaders can’t change narratives regularly because many people inside and outside their company heard some version of the story. The story is out there, in some form, with somebody, who probably shared it with someone else.