Creativity Starts at the Top: How Executives Signal Permission for Storytelling
In most mission-driven organizations, storytelling is seen as something that happens down the hall, the job of the communications team, the marketing department, or the consultant hired to make the next campaign video. But in practice, storytelling cultures don’t start in comms. They start in the C-suite.
Executives often say they value creativity, but their organizations don’t always feel that way. Teams wait for approval. Ideas stall in email chains. Story projects shrink until they’re safe, predictable, and forgettable. The reason? People take their cues from leadership.
Creativity, like trust, is a behavior modeled from the top.
The Myth of the “Creative Department”
Many leaders unintentionally box storytelling into a single function, treating it as a service rather than a signal. When storytelling is seen as tactical, it loses its strategic power.
Your staff can’t take creative risks if they never see you take one.
Your brand can’t sound human if your leadership voice never does.
Executives set the cultural tone for storytelling in the same way they set it for finance or HR. When leaders talk about impact only through metrics and milestones, that’s the signal. When they tell stories that reveal curiosity, humility, or transformation, that’s the signal too. The difference defines an organization’s voice.
You can’t outsource your organization’s story.
Leadership as the Narrative Signal
Every executive decision communicates something, even silence. A CMO who opens a board meeting with a short story about a family the organization helped sends a stronger signal than a slide deck ever could. A CEO who appears in a short video speaking candidly about lessons learned during a crisis communicates transparency, not perfection.
When leaders tell stories, they give permission. Staff start looking for stories in their own work. Field teams feel seen. Donors sense authenticity. Creativity cascades through the organization, not as a memo but as a modeled behavior.
The Psychology of Permission
People don’t create boldly because they’re told to; they create boldly because they’ve seen it’s safe to do so.
In filmmaking, that moment often happens when someone behind the camera drops their guard. You can feel the air change. The subject opens up because they know they’re being met with curiosity, not judgment. Leadership works the same way.
Executives who express uncertainty, who say, “We’re still learning” or “We don’t have the perfect story yet”, create a culture where experimentation feels allowed. This doesn’t erode authority; it builds credibility.
Creativity thrives not under command, but under permission.
Case Snapshots: When Leadership Changes the Story
I’ve seen this leadership signal in action on projects across sectors.
When the American Kidney Fund’s executives chose to personally introduce stories from patients and living donors, it reframed those videos from “program updates” into stories of shared humanity. Their visible presence communicated that empathy was core to the mission, not a communications tactic.
At the Smithsonian Science Education Center, leadership didn’t just approve a 40th anniversary video; they championed an ambitious creative direction that paired archival material with modern narration. Their trust in that approach allowed the piece to feel both timeless and daring, showing that scientific institutions can lead with emotion as well as intellect.
And in local climate journalism, while filming When the Storms Hit, I watched newsroom leaders in Santa Cruz step back and let residents narrate their own recovery stories. That decision, letting community voices lead, built trust not only in their coverage but in their brand’s integrity.
Each example demonstrates a quiet truth: when leaders show up creatively, others follow.
A Playbook for Creative Leadership
Here’s how executives can build a storytelling culture that lasts:
Model storytelling. Share your own experiences, especially the imperfect ones. Vulnerability signals authenticity.
Reward initiative. Celebrate when staff find stories that move audiences, even if the execution isn’t flawless.
Reframe risk. Creative work should be treated as a learning lab, not a compliance test.
Integrate story into rituals. Start all-hands meetings or donor events with a single, human story before the data.
Invest visibly. Budget for creative storytelling, and show up for it, on set, in interviews, or during reviews. Presence is permission.
These aren’t communications tactics. They’re leadership behaviors.
The Long-Term Payoff
Organizations that value storytelling from the top don’t just make better videos; they create stronger alignment between mission and message. Teams understand the why behind their work. Donors feel emotionally connected. Partners trust the brand’s integrity because they’ve seen it, not just read it.
Executives who model creativity create more than content; they create culture.
The leaders remembered for building lasting organizations aren’t just managing the mission; they’re telling it.