Chapter taken from e-book: PINCELADAS DE 100 LÍDERES EMPRESARIALES

Facing such a complex situation due to the life-changing COVID-19 pandemic that shook the world and reshaped whole paradigms in various industries, we have reached a moment of introspection in which storytelling is fundamental to survive, have an impact, communicate, align, and endure.

Storytelling existed ever since homo sapiens differentiated themselves from their cousins, the Neanderthal, due to their most powerful tool: language. This same tool allowed us to create fiction and bond with many individuals with a specific purpose. Empires have been built through storytelling.

Language and communication today require an extremely deep understanding of media and channels. Through different social media, anyone is empowered to tell a story that could spread exponentially to people’s minds. However, with such a wide variety of content, stories must be solidly grounded and told in the right tone, form, and style to achieve this effect.

As business leaders, we are faced with the colossal task of an extremely complex, changing, and uncertain environment. It is our responsibility to maintain a sense of unity and coherence in our companies or organizations, keeping our purpose and values solid, as well as permeating them with our stakeholders and our value chain. 

Besides a proper creation of key messages embodied in different moments of the story, storytelling is a fundamental tool that allows communication to flow and create a deeper and more effective impact.

It is the background of the message itself that reveals our essence, from which all the stories we tell and we connect with our audiences are derived. Being clear on our purpose we can achieve coherence between the stories and messages we tell, capturing the tone and form that make us unique.

The vertical of coherence in a story is directly proportional to its form and substance. This is the proof of coherence, where the communication flows and materializes through media and channels. It could be through a video, pictures, an article, or even a person —influencers, spokespeople…— that we can spread our message.

Working from strategic communication allows us to ensure all our efforts meet objectives of form and substance. The effect we want to create must be well defined, so essence, message, and story accordingly work together.

In fact, there are different theories and classifications: some by numbers, others by colors, systems, and areas of the brain that we could use. For the purposes of this article, we will be using Hartman’s classification to better identify these archetypes:

Reds: Those in this group seek to carry out their projects as best as possible. They use logic, are really determined, and usually finish what they start. Reds are assertive, disciplined, proactive and responsible. They know how to be leaders and control their actions. Reds always believe they are right and can be harsh or overly critical of others. Their personality is controlling and very dominant. “Reds need to be spoken to with concrete, precise language that evokes action, with strong arguments, facts, figures, and fundamentals explaining the message and its rationale.

Blues: Blue people seek to do good, look for perfection and can be somewhat distrustful. They are complex, intuitive, and very loyal.

They are very emotional, committed, and creative, always seeking to be the best they can be. Despite that, they are incredibly controlling, often judgmental, and have a hard time forgiving.

Blue people seek to be understood by others, they want to be loved and accepted.

Blues should be spoken to from equity and justice, using intuitive and structured arguments. Messages evoking emotions are usually effective, although they have to be well thought out and structured. 

Whites: They seek peace and do everything in their power to avoid confrontation. They do not ask for much, only what is necessary to feel comfortable. They are kind, considerate, patient and can build relationships from scratch.

Seeking to avoid bad situations, Whites are shy and rarely express what they feel, running away from conflict. They do not have goals of their own but work on others’.

Whites should be spoken to from comfort, kindness, well-being, and balance, with messages and emotional arguments evoking a state of mind of peace and tranquility.

Yellows: They live for fun and enjoyment; driven by the desire to have a good time. Therefore, they are full of enthusiasm and spontaneity.

Although they might be friendly, they are also very self-centered and the relationships they create remain superficial. Despite having many friends, they find it hard to deepen their bonds.

Yellows must be talked from spontaneity. Connecting with them implies achieving the “wow effect”: fun, living the moment, visual experiences, etc.

Now that we have defined these profiles, in an effective communication strategy based on storytelling, it is recommended to use a mix of content to impact each of these personalities, so picking up channels is extremely important to make the best use of each one, and thus achieving messages in different languages that are able to impact each of these archetypes.

Keep in mind that each head is a world and that each person is unique; however, archetypes and identification patterns exist to give meaning through categories that each person takes as their own. That’s why we must consider not to leave out any category of personality, so we will be able to bond with audiences.

Overall, we must:

1. Carry a storytelling according to our essence and purpose, aligned with our values and maintaining vertical coherence with solid and structured foundations.
2. Manage a communication mix between different channels, media, and messages, maintaining unified storytelling, whether of the brand, institution, or person, and always considering personality archetypes.
3. Use strategic communication to disseminate key messages in each one of the channels, using the right way for these to be our tuner and position these messages through stories.
4. Measure the effectiveness of this vertical and maintain continuous improvement based on data to support any action, always staying true to our essence and purpose.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please do not hesitate and send your comments to: ilanc@bindiva.com

100 LÍDERES EMPRESARIALES, COVID-19, Influencer, Opinion leader, Communication Mix, Storytelling