'To do Thought Leadership effectively, you first need to have thoughts'
A guide to getting storytelling right from former PillPack Head of Communications Jacqui Miller
Everyone is a thought leader these days. But very few people are effective at it.
I’ve been outspoken in this newsletter about what I think is broken about the communications function at most companies. It has become highly outsourced, which dilutes the impact of the story and its reach. And CEOs/founders often have highly unrealistic expectations for their comms teams.
As Jacqui Miller, a comms pro in digital health I’ve known for years, summarizes it: It’s a whole lot of “get me on the cover of Forbes.” And not a lot of being interesting enough to warrant being on the cover of Forbes.
But when done well, communications can be a huge competitive advantage for startups. Before I left journalism, I got into the habit of noting down every time I met a charismatic founder who truly cared about storytelling. After a while, I realized that these founders were having outsized success compared to their more humdrum peers. Storytelling done right can be like pouring fuel into a fire - and there’…