The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin

Brought to you by Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs | Eco—Your most rewarding app—Andy Raskin helps CEOs align their leadership teams around a strategic narrative—a single story that powers success in sales, marketing, product, fundraising, and recruiting. His clients include Gong, Dropbox, Uber, Salesforce, Square, and IBM. In today’s episode, we discuss:• What a strategic narrative is, and how to craft one• How having a strategic narrative can bring alignment to your entire company• Examples of strategic narratives in action• Who needs a strategic narrative and who doesn’t• Why Andy thinks about movements instead of categories—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-power-of-strategic-narrative—Where to find Andy Raskin:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyraskin/• Website: https://www.andyraskin.com/• Podcast: https://andyraskin.com/podcast/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Andy’s background(08:03) What is a strategic narrative?(10:34) How Salesforce would have pitched the old way(12:02) Examples of a strategic narrative in action (15:23) How one piece of writing skyrocketed Andy’s career(16:40) The power of writing online(17:53) Two paths to writing online(19:27) Naming the old game(20:59) Naming the stakes (23:29) Naming the objective(25:17) Naming the obstacles(26:35) Overcoming the obstacles(26:57) How the strategic narrative parallels the hero’s journey (28:25) Telling one story well vs. being a good storyteller(29:18) The 5-step framework summarized(31:33) An example of the 5-step framework in action(36:12) The impact of shifting to the strategic narrative approach (39:08) Companies that are nailing their strategic narrative (40:36) Why Andy thinks about movements instead of categories(44:15) Should every company have a strategic narrative?(46:33) Signs that something is broken in your strategic narrative(48:53) Steps to get started on your own(51:36) How to reach Andy(51:53) Why the second session is the low point in the process(55:30) Why the CEO needs to be part of the process(57:40) Lightning round—Referenced:• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/• Marc Benioff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbenioff/• Zuora: https://www.zuora.com/• The Greatest Sales Deck I’ve Ever Seen: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-greatest-sales-deck-ive-ever-seen-4f4ef3391ba0• Gong: https://www.gong.io/• Tien Tzuo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tientzuo/• Want a Better Pitch? Master the “Move”: https://medium.com/firm-narrative/want-a-better-pitch-master-the-move-5fbee071ca7f• Star Wars: https://www.starwars.com/• The Hero with a Thousand Faces: https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Faces-Collected-Joseph-Campbell/dp/1577315936• 360Learning: https://360learning.com/• Nick Hernandez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoconut/• Amit Bendov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitbendov/• Drift: https://www.drift.com/• OneTrust: https://www.onetrust.com/• “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott: https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/pamela.golden/engl2327/shitty-first-drafts-by-anne-lamott/view• Story: https://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-Screenwriting/• Out of Sheer Rage: https://www.amazon.com/Out-Sheer-Rage-Wrestling-Lawrence/• Station Eleven: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10574236/• Fitbit: https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/home• Apple Watch: https://www.apple.com/watch—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe