STORY AS LEADERSHIP STRATEGY COURSES
STORY AS LEADERSHIP STRATEGY
Designed for LEADERS & EDUCATORS responsible for guiding strategic change.
You have a strategy. You may even have a solid plan. So why does momentum for change still feel slow, uneven, or difficult to sustain?
In many schools, the challenge isn’t vision or commitment — it’s that the strategy hasn’t fully taken hold with people. Story is one of the most powerful tools leaders have to bridge that gap, turning strategic intent into shared understanding, commitment, and action.
The Story as Leadership Strategy series supports leaders in using story deliberately — not as inspiration alone, but as a core leadership practice for guiding change. Across three courses, participants move from clarifying a strategic change agenda, to understanding how that change lives in people and communities, to articulating a compelling story of the future.
Course 1: Story as Change Strategy focuses on defining the change imperative and using story to anchor strategy in purpose and lived experience.
Course 2: Story as Connection centers the human side of change — beginning with the leader and expanding to the community — so the work is grounded in identity, relationships, and shared narratives.
Course 3: Story as Vision looks forward, supporting leaders in crafting vision and future stories that help communities imagine what’s possible and move toward it together.
The series culminates in a future-facing narrative that connects strategy, people, and possibility: a story leaders can use immediately to build coherence, commitment, and momentum for meaningful change.
Audience and Series Outcomes
Designed for educators responsible for guiding strategic change, participants will create and test two strategic narratives: one grounded in the current change imperative and one defining a shared vision of the future.
Primary audience:
Instructional coaches
Department chairs or team leads
School administrators
Professional learning community facilitators
Classroom educators wishing to upskill their students
Digital Badge and Certificate
Participants who successfully complete the series earn a Story as Leadership Strategy Certificate, awarded through a Public Demonstration of Learning.
The certificate recognizes demonstrated capability in:
Leadership and Social Influence: using story to build understanding, alignment, and momentum for change.
Strategic Narrative Design: crafting purposeful narratives that connect strategy, people, and future direction.
Story as Leadership Strategy Courses
A 3-Part Series: Discover The Power of Story Win People Over & Help Move Your Vision Forward
Story as Change Strategy (I): The Power of Story in Change Leadership
$125 | Time To Complete: 4-5 hours
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Strategic change depends not only on clear vision, but on whether others understand the direction, see its relevance, and feel connected to the work. Without coherence between strategy, purpose, and communication, even well-designed change efforts struggle to gain traction.
In this course, participants use story as a leadership tool to strengthen how change is articulated and understood. The course combines narrative practice with strategic reflection, supporting leaders in clarifying their change agenda. The course explores how leaders can use storytelling to clarify purpose, connect strategy to lived experience, and create coherence at the outset of a change effort. Participants analyze the challenges they are navigating, reflect on the stories shaping their leadership practice, and examine how personal narratives influence the way change is understood and led.
By the end of the course, participants articulate a clear change strategy and develop an origin story that anchors that strategy in meaning, experience, and leadership intent—creating a strong foundation for the work that follows.
What will you walk away with?
The asset you will develop through this course is
A clearly articulated strategic change imperative
A personal origin story that anchors that change in lived experience and purpose
Connection points between strategy, change and narrative purpose
A deeper understanding of how story functions as a leadership and change tool
The skills you will develop in this course include the ability to
Align strategy, story and change as mutually reinforcing elements
Define and articulate a compelling strategic change imperative
Use story as a strategic tool to clarify and communicate change
Connect change and leadership practice to purpose and personal experiences
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This course is for educators leading strategic change who want their strategy to make sense to others—and to be communicated in ways that build clarity, alignment, and commitment.
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Introduction to Story as Change Framework
Topic 1: Why Lead with Story?
Topic 2: Strategy Drives Change
Topic 3: Clarifying Your Strategic Change Imperative
Topic 4: Exploring Your Origin Story
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A framework for articulating the relationship between strategy, change and storytelling
Guided reflection activities, including AI-supported reflection
A workbook in which they will build their change agenda and origin story
Access to course materials and resources
What’s Next: Take this course: Connecting Community and Action through Story
Story as Connection (II): Connecting Community and Action through Story
$125 | Time To Complete: 4-5 hours
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Do the people in your community see themselves in the change you are leading?
Even when a change strategy is clear, momentum depends on whether people see themselves in the work. Change becomes difficult to sustain when the change centers only on plans and outcomes, rather than lived experience, shared meaning, and community identity.
In this course, participants focus on how change lives in people—starting with the leader and expanding to the community. Through structured reflection and narrative development, participants explore their own experiences, surface community narratives, and examine how those stories shape understanding, belonging, and action for change. Story is used as a leadership practice to connect personal meaning, collective identity, and strategic direction.
By the end of the course, participants craft a coherent, shareable narrative that explains the change they are leading, why it matters, and how their community belongs in it.
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This course is for educators responsible for guiding strategic change who want to strengthen how they communicate purpose, build community connection, and foster shared ownership of the work.
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Introduction & Overview of Course 1
Topic 1: Experience as Meaning-Making
Topic 2: Building Collective Identity through Community Narratives
Topic 3: The Springboard Story
Topic 4: Crafting the Story of Change
An additional optional topic is provided for learners who have not taken Course 1: Story as Change Strategy or for learners who wish to develop a new change agenda before crafting their community-based personal narrative.
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What will you walk away with?
The asset you will develop through this course is a Community Centered Change Narrative which will include
A springboard moment that invites others into the change
Reflections on leadership meaning shaped by lived experience
Insights drawn from community narratives, including dominant and missing stories
A coherent narrative that explains the change, why it matters, and how the community belongs in it
The skills you will develop in this course include the ability to
Align strategy, story and change as mutually reinforcing elements
Define and articulate a compelling strategic change imperative
Use story as a strategic tool to clarify and communicate change
Connect change and leadership practice to purpose and personal experiences
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Tools for identifying springboard moments and community narratives
Structured activities for sensemaking and meaning-making, including AI-supported reflection
A workbook of activities that culminate in a change narrative grounded in community
Access to course materials and resources
What’s Next: Take this course: Story of the Future: Crafting a Shared Vision
(Coming Soon!) Story as Vision (III): Crafting a Shared Vision of the Future
$125 | Time To Complete: 4-5 hours
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Can your community imagine the future you are asking them to build?
Even when a change is clearly defined and grounded in community, leaders still face a critical challenge: helping others imagine what success looks like. Without a shared picture of the future, change efforts can lose energy, urgency, and direction.
In this course, participants focus on storytelling as a future-facing leadership practice. They use story to envision a desired future state, articulate what successful change makes possible, and frame that future in ways that inspire commitment and action. Using future-search tools and narrative structures, participants define a clear picture of success—one that motivates direction, energy, and meaning to the work ahead.
By the end of the course, participants create a vision story they can use in their leadership settings to guide direction, motivate action, and sustain momentum for change.
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This course is for educators responsible for leading strategic change who want to articulate a compelling vision of the future that motivates commitment and guides collective action.
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Introduction
Topic 1: Best Hopes / Worst Fears
Topic 2: A Day in the Life…
Topic 3: Back to the Future
Topic 4: Futures Story
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What will you walk away with?
The asset you will develop through this course is a Vision Story which will include
A clear description of a desired future state connected to the change strategy
A narrative arc that shows how the future builds from the present
A compelling explanation of why this future matters and what it makes possible
An inspiring picture of the future that creates collective understanding
The skills you will develop in this course include the ability to
Use storytelling to articulate vision and future direction
Engage audiences around a shared picture of what’s possible
Reflect forward to imagine outcomes and implications of change
Inspire commitment and action through future-focused narrative
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Future Search storytelling frameworks and prompts
A workbook of protocols to engage your community and build your Vision Story
Guided reflection activities, including AI-supported reflection
Access to course materials and resources
Interested in all three?
Select instead the Story as Leadership Strategy Course Bundle!
Discount Bundle Rate: $300 USD! (From$375 USD)
