Strategy x Story = Results

Turning Strategic Change into Team Buy-In and Market Engagement

Here’s the challenge I consistently see: your business evolves—identity, products, markets, even the name—but the story doesn’t.

The result? The marketplace is confused at best, the team rolls their eyes, and buy-in stalls.

At Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) 2025 (formerly ISRI), the shift to “Recycled Materials” wasn’t just a rename—it was a seismic alignment shift based on data and authentic stories. The lesson applies far beyond one association:

Do the work, then show the work. Tell the authentic stories of how it’s done and the impact it’s having.

We’ve been doing exactly that with Shapiro—a 120-year-old “scrap recycling” company reframed as a sustainability company. Not spin. Just the truth finally named and told.

If you’re leading M&A, a rebrand, new product/market motion, or a strategic pivot, your story is the lever that turns direction into buy-in. Your best customers and team members are the sources who will help you tell it best.

Why Change Efforts Stall (Even When the Strategy Is Right)

1. The identity gap. Strategy, org charts, and offerings change—but the language stays old.

2. The proof gap. Leaders assert a new direction without evidence from the field.

3. The rollout gap. Messaging is launched to the market before the team understands, believes, and can retell it.

   
   

Closing these gaps is a storytelling job—not as mere decoration, but as an operating mechanism for alignment.

A Simple Framework: Do → Name → Tell

1) Do the Impact

Start with the real work: operational wins, customer outcomes, efficiency improvements, cultural behaviors. Collect specifics—even if they’re small at first. Data-backed, authentic storytelling is powerful.

2) Name the Truth

Clarify the language that accurately reflects what’s true and the language that will speak to specific target audiences. This isn’t branding theater. It’s naming reality so people can recognize it and rally around it.

3) Tell It—Inside First, Then Outside

Translate proof into human stories backed by data. Roll them out internally so your team can re-tell them. Then scale to customers, partners, investors, and the broader market.

What This Looks Like in Practice

• Identity alignment: Align on the growth strategy, and then move from legacy labels to accurate, forward-looking language that reflects where you're going.

• Proof library: Build a living set of short, credible stories—customer wins, team innovations, and measurable outcomes.

• Enablement: Equip leaders, sales, recruiting, and ops with talk tracks and short clips so they can retell the story consistently.

• Distribution: Share the right proof with the right audience—internal town halls, onboarding, sales decks, site content, and social.

• Iteration: Keep tuning the story as the strategy executes and the proof compiles.

Signals You’re on the Right Track

• Employees start using the new language without being forced.

• Prospects “mirror back” your positioning on first calls.

• Recruiting pipelines improve in both quality and fit.

• Shorter sales cycles because buyers understand value faster.

• Fewer brand debates; more energy on execution.

Common Pitfalls (And How to Avoid Them)

• Empty words. Strategy fails to land internally and externally without clear context, stories, and data.

• Skipping the team. If employees hear it first on LinkedIn or elsewhere, you’ve already lost momentum.

• Over-polishing. Authentic beats perfect. Choose real voices over scripted hype.

• One-and-done. Story is a system. Keep collecting and circulating proof as the strategy advances.

The Bottom Line

Do the impact. Name it. Tell it—internally and externally.

Then enjoy your healthy, aligned growth.

If you want help turning a strategic shift into real buy-in, we guide leadership teams through a focused alignment process and help you capture and tell the stories that make change successful.

Let’s talk.