I had previously shared the importance of sharing your story.
What about, as Marshall Ganz puts it, the story of us?
If you've been following my blog, you know that I've discussed the importance of having a mission, being the change, leaving a legacy, and sharing the story of how you came to be. If you take these concepts and apply them, you'll have developed a tribe of people who believe what you believe. But that's not enough.
"How did WE come to be?"
Follower to you: “Okay, I believe what you believe, and I get your story. But why am I, and others like me, here?”
You: uh...
Your followers need you to teach the story of the tribe. Does it call to mind visions of old sages sharing ancestral stories? I hope so. That's the story you need to share. We get how you came to be the steward of the tribe's mission, but we don't understand how we came to exist as a tribe.
Here's what to have in your mind:
Believe in your mission, your legacy and know the change; and
Empathize with the problems and challenges of your tribe.
Here's what to write:
Your purpose and the change you want to create with extreme clarity.
The legacy you hope that someone will carry forward after you've gone.
List the real problems, strifes, and challenges of people like you and your followers.
Create a plot (how the tribe came to be, including any challenges along the way), a protagonist (the problems/strifes/challenges your tribe faces) and an outcome (the legacy your tribe will leave behind).
It's not enough to tell us why you're here. Tell us why WE are here. Show us how WE came into existence. Steward OUR mission and help us be the change WE want to see. Share our story.
