The Leadership Need That Usually Comes Second: Better Storytelling
By Mitchell Schuckman, PCC | Founder, The Schuckman Group
The One That Usually Comes First
Spend five minutes in a leadership meeting today and you will hear some version of the same concern.
How can we adopt AI faster? What can we do to get a better return on our AI investment?
What new AI-tools will transform our business?
That all makes sense. AI has changed how work gets done. It has leveled access to information, accelerated analysis, and raised the baseline of what “good” looks like..
But after sitting in proposal rooms, client meetings, and leadership discussions, I have noticed something else. As technical knowledge and execution become easier to replicate, leaders start asking different questions.
How do we grow the business? How do we relate better to clients?
Why isn’t our message resonating how we thought it would?
And eventually, someone says it. We need to be better storytellers.
Why Storytelling Gets Misunderstood
Everyone says storytelling matters. Most professionals feel it instinctively. But when they hear the word, they picture something performative. A long anecdote. A dramatic arc. Something that belongs on a stage, not in a working meeting.
We are still professionals, not actors. Storytelling in business comes from humans being human. Paying attention to real moments. Sharing what actually happened. Describing an experience instead of explaining a process.
That misunderstanding turns storytelling into a skill people don’t realize they already have. In practice, the stories that work best are short, specific, and situational. They do not decorate the message. They are the message. They replace explanation with experience.
What Actually Changes the Conversation
I have seen this recently when a partner I was coaching came to me after his team lost a proposal. He walked through the process explaining that pricing was competitive, credentials were strong, and the solution was solid. He felt like he and his team did their best and there was nothing more they could have done.
I asked him to go back to the client and push a little further. Not to defend the proposal, only to better understand the decision and learn for next time.
When we spoke again, he told me that the client said, “I understood everything that was presented. Your team was clearly capable. I just couldn’t picture what it would actually feel like to work with you and how you would help me succeed.”
The partner was devastated. We hadn’t lost on capability or price. We lost because the client never experienced us. We explained our approach, our tools, and our credentials, but we never helped them imagine the relationship. We didn’t lose to a better solution. We lost to a better story.
And, that’s where our coaching session began.
How to Tell Better Stories Without Making It Complicated
Great business storytelling is not about inventing something new. It is about noticing what is already happening. Our lives are one long, continuous story. A meeting that didn’t go well. A client reaction that surprised you. A question that caught you off guard. A moment when you saw someone get excited.
The practice is to observe your own experiences and the experiences of people around you. Pay attention to where energy changes. Notice what makes people lean in or pull back. Then describe what you saw, heard, or felt without over-explaining it.
It sounds simple. It is harder than it looks. But it is a skill you build by doing, not by studying. Start small. Try it in a meeting. Use one moment instead of three slides. You will get better.
The Shift That Builds Trust and Growth
We all have the raw material. We’ve all been in meetings, seen embarrassing missteps, celebrated great successes. The best storytellers choose the moment that matters, trust that it’s relatable, and describe it.
AI may determine how fast work gets done. Stories make people see more clearly.
The next time you feel the urge to explain, pause. Describe a moment instead. That small shift is often the difference between being heard and being remembered.