Sometimes, leadership is telling someone else's story

Do you know someone who's not yet telling their story as powerfully as you see it? Help tell hers, or his story and level up as a leader.*

Or "how to look as good as a comic book hero" on any day, in any role, regardless of gender.

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True leadership, is not in the grand gestures or the spotlight, but in quietly lifting others up so they can rise to their full potential. One of the most impactful forms of leadership can be elevating the voices of those around you and encourage them to share their stories.

We, of all people, understand the power and privilege of helping someone else tell their story. How we frame, tell and amplify your story can change almost everything...

Many of you, our BlueChip Communication friends, clients and colleagues, work in finance or financial services. You are often the leader and our client, and the person or team leading others to hit a growth goal, solve a problem, win a mandate or get a deal done. Or all this and more.

You're also often visible; you want to bring people with you, provide guard rails, and give their work, and your leadership meaning and momentum. Your story or stories help you win.

When we get this right for you, everything changes.

A narrative helps you get the right support, people, opportunities and behaviour in place. It also tells the people around you who you are, what you stand for, what you expect from them, where you're going, and why that matters.

When you hire us, it's often to help you with this "story" bit. We listen, learn, offer expert insight, and help you create and tell a better story so that you succeed.

Optics (like our fictional modern male hero above), and a narrative arc matter.

The story matters even more as you become more senior and more people look to you for leadership. The numbers are only part of the story for "stakeholders" in almost any context, even in our industry.

No matter our jobs, understanding and mastering the power of "story" is as important as knowing and mastering the numbers. Put the two together, and it's a game-changer.

As a CIO or CFO, for example, your bigger better story might bring you better deal flow, larger mandates or more attractive partnership opportunities. As chairperson, your story might get you a tick from the market and your institutional shareholders or help you avoid an adverse shareholder vote. As an expert, it might bring recognition and more business of the type you want.

What do we get out of this?

Our reward is that you win. No one sees us in your story. It's your win, not ours.

It's also about whether our work worked. Whether or not we helped. Did you win or get further because of what we did for you? Did we make a clear difference? How do we know?

This is also the same approach we suggest to those of you who lead.

There's a part of us that chose this sort of work as a vocation. Some of us also accidentally found our way here. But the reason we keep doing it is that we enjoy telling a story that helps you win.

It is intrinsically rewarding to help someone else succeed.

Stories matter

Two women I admire immensely and who have previously been recognised as #WomenofInfluence offer a couple of ideas ? (full story here ) for all of us.

Professor Megan Davis “The thing that has contributed most to my career is a love of books and reading. Read books and magazines and journals as much as you can and read widely because you can guarantee that most people do not. This includes fiction and non-fiction. It builds your critical thinking skills. And knowledge is power. Especially in my career over 15 years as a UN expert and in diplomacy, knowing the poetry and literature and culture of other people has helped tremendously in negotiations and in dialogue.”

Elizabeth Broderick "“You can put before individuals all the metrics and logical arguments as to why women’s leadership and gender equality is vital, but without an emotional attachment to the case for change you will have limited impact. What I have learnt is that to lead, to transform organisations, to transform nations, you must take the case for change from people’s heads and lodge it in their hearts with individual stories – the spark that fuels a commitment to action.”

These two women make a difference as leaders partly by telling their stories, and partly by amplifying others stories around them.

Who do you want to be a hero to?

Who do you work with who could share their story? Can you help them level up?

& Can you help someone you work with to tell a story in a better way? It's one way to be a workplace hero. It's also a real way to champion change. Who you nominate, and whether you help them, might change more than just their story!

*An easy way to do this right now would be to nominate a woman you respect or ask a colleague to submit an entry for her to The Australian Financial Review Women in Leadership Awards (formerly Women of Influence).

Apply, or read all about it here .