If You Lead Anything, Read This
What I’ve Learned After 30 Years Leading People. The Pattern I Couldn’t Ignore that Changed How I See Everything.
You’ve Seen It Over and Over
You’ve seen a great business plan struggle to get traction.
Not because it was bad.
Because people didn’t buy into it.
You’ve seen a leader make work overtime to motivate employees toward sales goals
…only to see revenue actually decline.
You’ve seen a company roll out a creative marketing plan that never quite connected with the audience.
And no one could fully explain why.
You’ve seen the most talented person in the office sleep walk through years of mediocrity.
Here’s why:
It wasn’t a strategy problem.
It wasn’t a product problem.
It wasn’t a culture probelm.
It was a story problem.
The Thing Underneath Everything
For the past twenty years, I’ve been obsessed with one idea:
Story matters most.
If you want someone to:
Buy
Stay
Commit
Change
Grow
You don’t start with tactics.
You start with the story driving their beliefs that drive their behavior.
This is true in organizations.
And it’s true in your personal life.
Because you are not just making decisions.
You are living inside a narrative.
And that narrative is shaping everything you do.
This Book Has Been Twenty Years in the Making
I didn’t sit down one day and decide to write this book.
I’ve been writing it for two decades.
In boardrooms.
In workshops.
In one-on-one conversations with leaders trying to figure out why smart strategies weren’t working.
Over and over again, I saw the same thing:
The strategy wasn’t broken.
The story underneath the strategy was.
So I finally decided to put it all in one place with this new book called…
Story Is the Strategy
Why Every Problem Is a Story Problem with a Story Solution
This is not a marketing book.
It’s not about branding tricks or polished messaging.
It’s about the narrative operating system underneath all behavior.
Why I’m Asking Now
The book releases November 9, 2026.
Between now and then, I’ll be writing, refining, and pressure-testing this in real rooms with real leaders.
And just like everything else I create…
this is supported by the people who find value in it.
Preorders aren’t just helpful.
They create the space for me to do this well.
To go deeper.
To refine the ideas.
To make this as useful and practical as possible.
Preorder the Book
If this idea resonates with you—if you’ve ever watched a good plan fail and wondered why—this book is for you.
eBook— $20
Early copy of the eBook before the release
Signed Hard Copy (and eBook) — $45
Signed hard copy mailed to you
eBook included
Founding Story Partner — $300
Everything above
Name listed in a special “Founding Partners” section of the book
Invitation to a private 60-minute 1:1 Story Strategy Zoom session
The Story Partner tier is limited to 15 people. It helps support me as I write and includes a one-on-one coaching session focused on the story strategy for your personal brand and/or your organization.
I’ve been teaching this for most of my professional life. Now I’m building it into something that you can have with you 24/7. If you believe story shapes decisions — in business or in life — I’d love for you to be part of the beginning of this journey.
Because strategy shifts when the story shifts.
And once you perfect the story, everything else starts to fall into place.
— Joe
Story is such a motivator.