The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin

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, IBM, and many others. 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 — 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 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/dp/0060391685/ • Out of Sheer Rage: https://www.amazon.com/Out-Sheer-Rage-Wrestling-Lawrence/dp/0312429460 • 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 podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.