Storytelling as a strategic weapon: why CEOs need to own the company story

Intro

When you hear “storytelling”, you might think of campaigns, ads or brand videos.

But if you’re the CEO of a SME or scale-up in Belgium, the Netherlands or anywhere in Europe, storytelling is first and foremost a leadership tool, not a marketing tactic.

Your story explains:

• why your company exists,

• why your strategy makes sense now,

• and what the next chapter looks like – for employees, customers, partners and investors.

  
  

In “100 Days to Make Your Mark as a CEO”, storytelling is not about decoration. It is about alignment and momentum.

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Why storytelling is a CEO job – not just marketing’s job

There are three levels where your story matters:

1. Inside the company

   • Your people need to understand where you’re going and why.

   • They want to know what is expected of them and what they can expect from you.

2. In the market

   • Customers, suppliers and partners want to know what kind of company you are becoming.

   • They compare your story with that of competitors in Belgium, the Netherlands or other European markets.

3. With stakeholders

   • Banks, investors and boards want a coherent explanation of your strategy and risk profile.

   • They pay attention not only to your numbers, but also to your narrative.

If you don’t actively shape that story, it will still exist – just fragmented, distorted and inconsistent.

The basic structure of a strategic CEO story

You don’t need a Hollywood script.You need a clear narrative spine you can use in townhalls, boardrooms, sales decks and interviews.

A simple structure:

1️⃣ Who we areShort, honest origin:

• “We started as X, in Y market, solving Z problem.”

2️⃣ The world we are in now

• What changed in your environment? (technology, regulation, competition, customer behaviour, labour market…)

• Why “doing nothing” is not an option.

3️⃣ The problem or tension

• Where is the friction today? Margin pressure, talent scarcity, customer expectations, legacy systems…

• Name it in simple language.

4️⃣ The choice we are making

• The strategic direction: focusing on certain customers, products, regions, business models.

• What you are saying yes to – and what you are consciously saying no to.

5️⃣ How we are going to do it

• High-level approach: capabilities, investments, partnerships, ways of working.

• Not every detail, but enough to make it believable.

6️⃣ What this means for you

• For employees: roles, expectations, opportunities.

• For customers: value, service, relationship.

• For partners: collaboration, focus areas.

7️⃣ The next chapter

• A clear, realistic picture of success in 2–3 years.

• What will be different if this strategy works?

This structure works whether you are running an HR services SME in Brussels, a tech scale-up in Amsterdam, or a manufacturing company in Flanders.

Common storytelling pitfalls for CEOs

When I work with CEOs and leadership teams, I often see these mistakes:

• Too abstractThe story is full of buzzwords (“ecosystem”, “synergy”, “digital transformation”), but no one can repeat it in normal language.

• Too positiveThe hard parts are ignored. People don’t trust it because it sounds like a brochure.

• Too internalThe story is about internal projects and reorganisations, not about customers, markets and value.

• Too fragmentedThe CEO tells one version to the board, another to the team, another to customers.

Fixing this is not about becoming more “creative”. It’s about being more honest, concrete and consistent.

Building your story into your 100-day plan

In “100 Days to Make Your Mark as a CEO”, I suggest you use your first 100 days (or a reset window) to:

1. Listen and diagnose

   • Talk to employees, customers, partners.

   • Collect the stories they tell about the company today.

   • Identify the gaps and contradictions.

2. Craft your strategic narrative

   • Use the structure above.

   • Test the story with a few trusted people – inside and outside your company.

   • Refine it until it feels true, sharp and usable.

3. Communicate and embed

   • Share the story in different formats: townhall, written memo, short video, sales presentation.

   • Help your management team translate it into their own messages for their departments.

   • Align your external communication (website, LinkedIn, sales decks) with the new story.

The goal is not to deliver a one-off “big speech”.The goal is to create a living story that people recognise and can retell.

More info about the book

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