The Power of Narrative: Why School Leaders Must Shape the Story Before Someone Else Does
- Michael Langevin, Ph.D.
- May 6
- 7 min read
Every school district has a story. The real question is who’s telling it?
Across the country, remarkable things are happening in schools every single day. In classrooms, teachers go above and beyond. Students make meaningful progress that isn’t always reflected on a state report card. Leaders make decisions rooted in care, equity, and a long-term commitment to their communities. Yet despite all of this, many communities only hear about their schools when something goes wrong or when test scores make the front page of the local paper.
That disconnect doesn’t exist because these stories aren’t worth telling. It exists because, too often, no one is actively telling them.
When messaging isn’t intentional, public perception is shaped by soundbites, outdated assumptions, or the loudest voices online. Over time, this creates a gap between the work happening inside your schools and the narrative circulating outside of them.
This post is the first in a four-part series designed to help you close that gap. It begins with a fundamental mindset shift: storytelling isn’t fluff; it’s leadership. Done well, it builds trust, strengthens culture, and makes your values visible.
So, let’s talk about how to take ownership of your story before someone else defines it for you.
Why Schools Struggle to Tell Their Story
Most school districts aren’t missing a great story. They’re simply not telling it.
Walk through your buildings on any given day, and you’ll witness powerful moments unfolding everywhere. You’ll see engaged students, dedicated staff, small acts of kindness, creative teaching, and strong, steady leadership. But in many districts, those moments stay locked inside classroom walls or confined to internal meetings. The work is strong. The messaging, however, is either quiet or fragmented.
That doesn’t mean educators don’t value communication. In reality, their time and energy are often consumed by the demands of the work itself. When the pace inevitably picks up, storytelling tends to feel like a luxury. It gets postponed, pushed to a communications team (if one exists), or distilled into a few scattered social media posts without a larger strategy.
Even when efforts are made, they rarely align. A principal might post pictures from a field trip. A teacher might celebrate a classroom project. The superintendent might send out a newsletter. While all of those actions have value, they often remain disconnected. Without a consistent voice and guiding message, even well-intended communication can fade into background noise.
That kind of fragmentation creates risk. When there’s no unified story, the public fills in the gaps with headlines, hallway chatter, or outdated impressions. As a result, districts find themselves battling misinformation or confusion, not because of what they did, but because of what they failed to communicate.
As NextGen Learning points out, storytelling isn’t just a public relations move (2023). It’s a leadership strategy. When schools lead with story, they don’t just share information. They build trust. They invite people in. They reveal the purpose behind the work and help every stakeholder understand where they fit in.
Owning your narrative doesn’t require spin. It simply means amplifying what’s already true, already happening, and already worth sharing. And it starts by recognizing this: great work speaks volumes, but only when you give it a voice.
What Happens When You Don’t Control the Narrative
If you're not actively shaping your school district’s story, especially in today’s fast-moving world, someone else will. When that happens, the version that surfaces often has little to do with your reality. Instead, it reflects assumptions, outdated perceptions, or the loudest voices in the room.
District leaders often underestimate the cost of not having a clear, consistent message. While they stay focused on operations, budgets, test scores, and improvement plans, all of which are essential responsibilities, they may miss the opportunity to shape how that work is understood by the public. When the district’s narrative isn’t guided by leadership, others fill the gap: local media, political figures, social media critics, or well-meaning community members who may only have part of the story.
The result is a growing disconnect between what’s happening inside your schools and what your stakeholders believe is happening. Even when you’re making real progress in strengthening literacy, advancing equity, or seeing higher engagement, those efforts remain invisible if no one is sharing them. And invisible progress doesn’t build trust, attract families, or inspire your staff.
Silence can be even more damaging. When families and staff don’t hear from leadership regularly, particularly during times of change, they begin to form their own conclusions. That absence of communication opens the door to fear, misinformation, and disengagement. Without a clear narrative in place, the district becomes reactive instead of proactive, always chasing public perception rather than shaping it.
This is why storytelling must be seen as a leadership strategy, not simply a public relations tactic or an optional extra. As ASCD notes, leaders who share stories consistently do more than communicate. They connect. They offer context, bring clarity, and make complex work understandable. Most importantly, they help every stakeholder recognize their place in the district’s shared mission (ASCD, 2018).
Your district’s story is unfolding every day. The question is whether you’re the one telling it or letting someone else write it for you.
What a Strong Narrative Can Actually Do
When districts take control of their narrative, they unlock something far more powerful than a polished press release. They create alignment. A strong narrative helps both internal and external audiences understand not just what you're doing, but why you're doing it.
It builds trust and boosts morale. It provides context for tough decisions and celebrates those that move the mission forward. In times of change or uncertainty, it offers a sense of stability. More than anything, it becomes the thread that connects your initiatives, priorities, and values.
Think about the best leaders you’ve worked with. They didn’t rely on bullet points to convey direction. They told stories. They reminded you of the mission, gave meaning to the work, and helped you see where you belonged in the bigger picture. That’s the power of a district-wide narrative. It weaves communication across schools, departments, and roles into a cohesive message, transforming scattered updates into a shared voice.
Externally, a compelling story helps families understand what sets your schools apart and why they should choose to stay or enroll. It also supports staff recruitment and retention by attracting people who align with your values. Internally, it acts as both a morale booster and a compass, guiding your team through challenges with a shared sense of purpose.
This idea isn’t just theoretical. Leadership research consistently shows that storytelling is one of the most effective tools for inspiring action, particularly in complex systems like education. As educational leadership researcher Abdulkadir Ozbek explains, storytelling enables leaders to shift from transactional to transformational leadership by grounding their work in purpose and relatability (2022).
A great story doesn’t exist to sell. It exists to connect. Rather than trying to impress, it invites others to believe. It aligns your stakeholders around a clear understanding of who you are, what you stand for, and where you’re going. In a world full of noise, that kind of clarity is a powerful advantage.
Starting the Shift: Own the Message Before You Market It
It’s easy to think of storytelling as something that belongs solely to the communications department, but it begins with leadership. Before any story can reach the public, it must be clear within your system.
This process begins with reflection. Ask yourself: What do we believe as a district? What do we stand for? What do we hope families, staff, and students say when they talk about us outside of school? If those answers aren’t already embedded in your daily communication, now is the time to craft a message that reflects your purpose.
To start, develop a simple narrative anchor. A few core statements that define who you are and what you value can serve as the foundation for everything from board presentations and staff meetings to hallway posters and family newsletters. The goal isn’t to invent something new. It’s to clarify the story your district has been living all along.
Once that anchor is in place, begin aligning your messaging. When your social media highlights, superintendent updates, and website blurbs all point in the same direction, you create coherence. That consistency builds trust by assuring families and staff that what they hear publicly reflects what’s happening in classrooms every day.
And you don’t have to overhaul everything at once. Start small. Post one thoughtful update each week that connects a student success story to a core district value. Include a short narrative in a principal newsletter that explains the “why” behind an event or initiative. In your next board presentation, add a story that brings the numbers to life.
Over time, storytelling becomes second nature. Communication shifts from reactive to intentional. Your identity evolves from scattered to strategic.
When you begin with ownership rather than outreach, you’re not simply promoting your brand. You’re living it.
Conclusion
Every district has a story. What often separates those that build trust and momentum from those that remain on the defensive isn’t the quality of their work. It’s who is telling the story and how intentionally that story is being told.
When school leaders embrace storytelling as a central part of leadership rather than an afterthought, they begin to shape how their communities see the work. They move from scattered communication to shared vision, from defensive reactions to proactive clarity, from disconnected messages to a cohesive narrative.
Here’s the challenge: before your next initiative launch, community event, or staff update, pause and ask, What story are we reinforcing right now? Is that story aligned with who we are and what we believe?
If the answer feels unclear, that’s not a failure. It’s the starting point.
At EES Innovation, we believe storytelling is a core leadership skill. We partner with districts to design communication systems that reflect their values and bring their vision to life. Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing message, we can help you uncover your story and tell it with clarity and purpose.
Up next: In Blog 2 of this series, we’ll explore what it means to build a brand rooted in authenticity rather than flash. You’ll learn how to define your brand truth and begin building a communication strategy that is aligned, consistent, and real.
References
NextGen Learning. (2023, June 15). The power of storytelling in school leadership and student engagement. Next Generation Learning Challenges
Ozbek, A. (2022, November 12). The importance of storytelling in educational leadership. Medium.
Sparks, S. (2018). Leading through stories. ASCD Educational Leadership https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/leading-through-stories