Your Story Creates Influence
One of my favorite business action items is sending out books. My books, to be more specific. There's nothing quite like signing the facing sheet, slipping a copy into an orange bubble sleeve, and shoving it out the door with a gentle and hopeful 'Good luck!' But in full transparency, since publishing in 2023, I still haven't recouped the book's financial investment. As for the invested time... fuhgeddaboudit.
Putting something new into the world is a risky, often costly endeavor. There are many ways to measure success, but if the core ruler is in dollars, few of us will ever have enough spare change lying about to take any creative leap. Instead, we're best served by measuring success in terms of long-term influence, math that gets calculated over time. Sharing our story will rarely net an immediate paycheck, but it can raise our profile. And with it, our potential for future impacts and bigger contracts.
Leaps of Creative Faith
The books above (with one orange exception) are by a few of my most influential mentors on the subject of #corporatestorytelling. Their stories and insights have helped me craft a speaking career I never could have imagined as a young, perpetually broke actor.
Back then, I just needed money to pay the bills. But I fell in love with Terry O'Reilly's Age of Persuasion on the CBC long before it morphed into Under the Influence. Seth Godin has been sparking creativity for 30 years and poured such blunt brilliance into All Marketers Are Liars Tell Stories. Donald Miller is the kingpin of turning stories into influence with his Storybrand framework.
What they all had in common was deep passion for storytelling that started with minimal fiscal return on investment. They took leaps of creative faith, then slowly found their audiences, grew followings, and their resulting influence became legendary.
These orange padded envelopes are en route at this moment to a PR team I'll be coaching in January. All but one of the recipients don't know me and I don't know them. They'll read my book, and by the time we're in the same room, my influence is already established. Creativity first (2023), payoff later (2026).
Influence leads to sales
We don't reach our destinations in one big leap; we take thousands of tiny steps that eventually get us where we hope to go. Step one is trust that the story we want to share has potential to spark interest and create benefit for others.
Sometimes our story is personal. Sometimes it's practical. Sometimes it's professional. That doesn't matter. Whether we organically believe in our story or are required to tell it as part of our job on behalf of our brand, the influence we inspire is the ultimate point. Money may not flow the moment we finish uttering the words. But if we utter those words with passion, conviction, and care for our listener, we build influence. Talk by talk, meeting by meeting, engagement by engagement, our influence builds, then eventually leads to a sale.
Lasting Results
A financially successful business meets its immediate financial goals. An influential business is constantly taking steps to establish itself as an industry thought leader. One runs on money, with accompanying stress and dependance on external pressures to maintain strength and solvency. The other is constantly working toward something more valuable than cash: influence.
Our best story aims to build credibility rather than chase dollars. Influence doesn't simply pay the bills; it proves why our brand is qualified to lead the way. Influence comes from value-driven content that doesn't just connect with our target audience—it positions us as THE authoritative voice helping our industry or community achieve better outcomes and bigger success. Influence may not lead to an immediate contract, but being a thought leader is our most efficient path to lasting financial windfalls.
Bottom Line
Author and speaker, Todd Henry, says that great leaders aim for influence. "Controlling behavior never leads to results beyond your own grasp. However, when you achieve influence, you multiply your efforts and reproduce your values and principles in the lives of others."
Control is when we only care about a story that nets instant financial results. A focus on nothing but ROI, getting others to buy from us, quashes creative or connective endeavors, and often loses in the long run. Influence is when we strive to uplift and inform others, with a long-arc goal that accepts some short-term failure or risk leading to meaningful, lasting success.
So write the book. Accept the unpaid internship. Take on the project. Volunteer to lead the breakout session. Don't worry about immediate payback, just take the leap and build your influence whenever and wherever you can. As Kenny Rogers said, never count your money when you're sittin' at the table – there'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
