We engage people in our enterprise through the story we tell.
We tell our story by what we say and how we say it and by we do and how we do it.
By telling our story about what is possible and listening we engage others in:
-Identifying ideas and initiatives to take advantage of opportunities for our enterprise to progress
-Finding and developing resources to support our initiatives
-Providing word-of-mouth marketing to engage others in our enterprise and
-Building relationships that support the on-going success of our enterprise.
It is these relationships that become our resources and are the key to our success.
A story takes a vision, puts it into context, and then adds some passion to make it memorable and compelling. A compelling story takes an idea and moves it from our head to our heart to our gut… from “I think we can do it” to “I sure hope we can do it” to “we will do it”.
Our story is how we connect with, inform and excite others, engaging them in helping our enterprise progress. Our story answers the reader’s question, “What’s in it for me?”
To engage others in our social entrepreneurship we must create a clear and compelling story that communicates the following:
• Information and context relative to the opportunity –the information and background for the issue we face in terms the audience will appreciate; what is affecting our world; “The Forces of Change” and why what we are doing presently is unacceptable; why we need to change what we are doing
• The opportunity – the possibilities available to us; what makes our future promising if we are successful
• Who we are – what it is that would lead someone to believe that we can take advantage of the opportunity; what are our abilities, capacity and desires
• Our purpose – what business we are in from the perspective of the customer, client and the community (not what we are doing, but what their impression is of our benefit to them). To reiterate, Revlon Cosmetics’ purpose is to sell “hope”; South West Airlines’ purpose is to “help grandparents visit their grandchildren”; Pampers’ new purpose is “helping mothers raise healthy, happy babies”. Our purpose will determine the people we hire, the products/services we market and the partners we will seek.
• What we do – how we will take advantage of the opportunity
• What we contribute – how what we do contributes to the success of those we serve – our clients, families, customers and our communities
• Acknowledgement of others’ interests –the specific interests of each of those to whom we contribute
• How we will measure our success – how we will measure our results in ways that others will appreciate – not just what we do, but the results of our efforts – what we expect to be paid for
• Our interests – our specific focus for the near future
Our story is ever evolving as we receive more information and as new opportunities present themselves.