Your "impact strategy" is a thing
Obnoxiously buzzwordy phrase, but important to work out asap
Real talk: in working with folks from all different backgrounds and sectors on public impact and media strategy, there’s a theme stumbling block that is so simple its often overlooked entirely, and that is impact strategy.
Nevermind the bizspeak-y vibe of it; impact strategy is simply “what the hell you want to accomplish in public.” It’s not much more complicated than that. It’s worth your while to devote a little block of uninterrupted time to think this through and unpack just this: what are you really trying to accomplish? Why does your voice need to be heard and amplified in the public conversation? To be sure, defining what you want to do can get people all up in their feelings, their egos, and totally under attack from their imposter syndrome, so let’s do this together. I got you.
What are you really trying to accomplish? Why does your voice need to be heard and amplified in the public conversation?
These two questions can be brutal. First, acknowledge that imposter syndrome may very well kick up some kind of “who do I think I am? do I even deserve anything like this?” business and that ego may very well chime in with some “but I want to write a book/be on tv/get interviewed by so-and-so person” and then maybe guilt or deservedness will swing back around with some kind of “why do you think you even deserve any of that?” and then fear/internalized capitalism/panic/other stuff might offer something like" “but I need the press to sell widgets and maybe I don’t have anything to say and there are probably people who know more about this than I do and…” Hi, stop. Please. Take a moment. Get paper. Write, longhand, if you are able, pen to paper, and let yourself really get into and through this stuff and clear it out. I mean it, write it all down. All the “yeah, but” excuses that come up when you think big.
But then, keep writing, and write until you get down to the bones of what you really need to be out there. Keep asking why. Maybe there’s something missing from the narrative and the work you do helps people understand the issues better. In that case, people need to hear from you and in fact, putting your knowledge into the conversation is an act of service.
Maybe you want an impact strategy because you want to share your organization’s mission with the world and help make it a better place. Maybe you want people to understand your book or area of expertise better. Maybe you’re working on a non-fiction book that’ll make some corner of the world better. Maybe you have a fiction project and your gift is telling stories that inspire and transport and make people ask big questions of themselves. All of that is good. But, if “I need an impact strategy because I should want to have maximum impact” is your driving force, you’re going to run yourself into the ground chasing bright lights and other things that seem shiny, all the while missing the truly impactful opportunities you want and need because you haven’t devoted time to thinking about what it is you really most want to accomplish. Meaning, if you aren’t clear, you risk saying yes to everything. And that’s a hard no.
Only by getting clear on the impact you want to make can you start to build and pursue things that support your mission and drive things forward in exactly the way you need.
There’s a part two to this. Stay tuned for that in tomorrow.
