Story telling is a key component of managing and marketing an internal IT team. At least, so I have recently come to realize.
How does one market their internal security team? That question was posed to me by Steven Fox recently. Steven is a good friend and he is working on a book. I was hoping to help him, but I was not quite sure how to answer the question. I pushed back. I don’t really think of what I do as branding. But Steven pushed back too, and we got into a great discussion.
I am a firm believer in the power of a good story. Stories can promote the strengths of your team. Cautionary stories of other firms’ failures can help position your team for success. The right anecdote to the right person at the right time is a powerful thing.
I had not thought of this as marketing. But Steven helped me see it in a different light. Story telling provides consistent messaging that helps build a team’s reputation.
Here are some tips on story telling for IT managers:
- You are story teller rather than the focus of the story. Your team members are the heroes.
- Keep it real, keep it honest, keep it positive.
- Maintain a story book or clippings folder for internal success stories and failure stories.
- Maintain a story book or clippings folder for external stories, particularly
- Share these stories with your team as well as your stakeholders. A good story celebrating a team member’s accomplishments needs to be shared.
Have a good story? Drop me an email or catch up with me on Twitter.
Wolfgang
Post script: Steven Fox recommended I check out the All Marketers book by Seth Godin.
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