Crawford Partners, LLC

Delivers strategic consulting in marketing, strategy, leadership, organizational design, business transformation, executive coaching, and employee experience for private organizations focused on growth.  

I also partner with many leadership development, coaching, and organizational development firms to provide shared experience and solutions for a wide range of clients.

President

Thomas More University

Provided strategic leadership in adult enrollment and marketing for the university.  Designed new revenue models and channels to drive growth.  Responsible for all advertising, media placement, digital marketing and strategic initiatives.

Vice President for Digital, Graduate & Professional Programs

Founding Dean of the College of Business

Taught strategy, innovation, marketing, MBA skills, organizational behavior, etc., at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Assistant Professor

Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University

Assisted doctorate students in designing meaningful research.

Research Advisor for Doctorate of Management Students

Direct Opinions

Provided marketing strategy, sales, employee experience, customer research and analytics for clients across retail, healthcare, consumer products, and manufacturing.

Chief Marketing Officer

Convergys

Successfully provided cross-functional marketing leadership in creating solutions, designing business transformation, and developing innovative strategies that lead to growth.  Responsible for all value proposition creation, packaging, positioning, digital marketing, branding, creative services, web redesign, lead generation, sales center of excellence consulting services and voice of the client research.

Senior Director Marketing Strategy

University of Cincinnati

Enjoyed teaching Business Ethics and Quality Management Tools courses to students by designing a highly interactive curriculum.

Adjunct Business Management Instructor

Citigroup

Led sales and marketing business transformation efforts for private label cards, retention, and mortgage across seven sites.  Managed $230M in annual revenue, driving year over year continued growth.

Senior Vice President, Regional Sales Director

AmTrust Bank

Traveled throughout the country studying contact center best practices.  Designed, developed, implemented and managed all aspects of the retail banking contact center, internet web customer service and the B2B mortgage contact center.  The program won the National Teleprofessional Award for Call Center Excellence (ACCE).

Vice President

Partnering with Leaders to Define SUCCESS and Achieve It.

Thank you for visiting my profile.  I'm Angela Crawford, a strategist and leadership consultant who empowers people and organizations to grow through authentic connection and a relentless commitment to helping others succeed.

With over 20 years of strategic leadership experience, I provide organizational consulting, along with coaching and leadership development through my customizable Leaders SUCCEED Together© system.

Let's work together to define success for yourself and your organization--and achieve it!

Who I Help:
- C-Suite Executives in privately owned companies
- Senior Leaders tackling new challenges
- HR Professionals seeking leadership development solutions
- Education and Healthcare Administrators

How I Can Help:
- Provide consulting services across organizational development, HR, sales, marketing, and operations.
- Design custom leadership programs to attract and retain top talent
- Serve as your confidential sounding board with fresh perspectives
- Enhance team dynamics and performance with tailored solutions
- Navigate the unique challenges of education and healthcare leadership

Why Choose Crawford Partners?
- Extensive cross-industry experience
- Proven, research-backed Leaders SUCCEED Together© System
- Flexible, client-focused approach
- Deep commitment to your success
- Over 13 years of delivering results

Ready to grow your organization like never before?  Let's connect.

P.S. Even if leadership development isn't your current focus, feel free to pass my information along to someone who might benefit. I'm passionate about helping leaders become the best versions of themselves.

Angela Crawford

➡️ Here's what most leaders miss about organizational culture:

They think culture change happens from the top down through mission statements and company values.

The reality?

73% of culture transformation initiatives fail because leaders diagnose the stated culture instead of the enacted culture.

After studying Cameron & Quinn's Competing Values Framework and Schein's organizational culture theory, I've adapted a 4-phase diagnostic that reveals what's actually happening:

The Framework:

✅ Phase 1: Behavioral Evidence Gathering (Weeks 1-3)
→ Track decision patterns, not policy documents
→ Observe meeting dynamics, not org charts

✅ Phase 2: Informal Culture Assessment (Weeks 4-6)
→ Map promotion patterns vs. stated values
→ Analyze crisis responses vs. company principles

✅ Phase 3: Force Field Analysis (Weeks 7-9)
→ Identify reinforcing vs. disruptive cultural forces
→ Calculate net change pressure

✅ Phase 4: Integration & Action Planning (Weeks 10-12)
→ Plot cultural reality gaps
→ Design evidence-based evolution strategy

The difference? Companies using behavioral diagnostics see 3x higher success rates in culture transformation.

You know you've succeeded when: Your promotion patterns, resource allocation, and crisis responses actually match your stated values.

Which assumption about your company culture needs challenging?

Share your biggest culture gap discovery below. ⬇️

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

Angela Crawford, PhD

Business Owner, Consultant & Executive Coach | Guiding Senior Leaders to Overcome Challenges & Drive Growth l Author of Leaders SUCCEED Together©

Stop trying to find your one "authentic" leadership style.

Start being the leader your team actually needs you to be in the moment.

Conventional wisdom tells us to be consistent. But what if that consistency is the very thing holding your team back?

A single leadership style applied to every person and situation is a recipe for failure.

→ Your brand-new intern feels lost because you're too hands-off.
→ Your senior expert feels micromanaged because you're too hands-on.

The most effective leaders don't have one style; they are leadership chameleons. They use the Situational Leadership Model to accurately diagnose and adapt to the needs of their people.

It’s about flexing between four distinct approaches based on your team member's competence and commitment to a specific task.

🎨 The 4 Leadership Styles:

1. Directing (S1) 🎯
→ You provide clear, step-by-step instructions.
Perfect for the Enthusiastic Beginner (D1) who is eager but inexperienced.

2. Coaching (S2) 🤝
→ You still direct, but also explain the 'why' and encourage them.
Ideal for the Disillusioned Learner (D2) who has hit a roadblock and lost confidence.


3. Supporting (S3) 🤗
→ You empower them to lead the way while you act as a sounding board.
For the Capable but Cautious Performer (D3) who has the skills but is hesitant to own it.

4. Delegating (S4) 🚀
→ You turn over full responsibility and trust them to deliver.
Reserved for the Self-Reliant Achiever (D4) who is a true expert.

Your goal as a leader isn't just to get the task done. It's to develop your people from D1 to D4. That requires you to change your approach as they grow.

Ready to try it?

Try this for one week:
→ Pick one person on your team and one specific task.
→ Diagnose their Development
→ Consciously apply the matching leadership style (S1-S4).

Who's ready to become a more adaptable leader?

—

👉 Get free weekly tips and actionable guides by signing up for my newsletter at the link in my bio.

What if we’ve been wrong about what great leadership looks like?

We celebrate the charismatic, larger-than-life CEOs on the covers of business magazines. But what if the data told a different story?

In his groundbreaking research for Good to Great, Jim Collins and his team discovered something interesting:

The most effective leaders combine personal humility with professional will.

They were Level 5 Leaders.

And the climbing looks like this:

• Level 1: Highly Capable Individual 🧑💼
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.

• Level 2: Contributing Team Member 🤝
Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.

• Level 3: Competent Manager 📈
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

• Level 4: Effective Leader 🧭
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

• Level 5: Executive ✨
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

Greatness is not a function of circumstance.

It is, first and foremost, a matter of conscious choice and discipline. The most powerful choice a leader can make is to subjugate their own ego to the larger goal of building something great and lasting.

You can't "fake" Level 5, but you can consciously cultivate its attributes.

—

👉 Get my free guidebook detailing the 7 essential steps for leadership growth.

Link in bio.

Have you ever seen a great strategy die a slow, silent death?

The year starts with ambitious goals and high energy. By March, the team is buried in the “whirlwind” (endless emails, back-to-back meetings, and urgent fires that keep the business running).

The whirlwind isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But if left on its own, it can consume 100% of your time and energy.

That’s why most strategies fail. All your resources go battle against the whirlwind.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX), created by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling, is the proven system to fight back.

Before you can win, you must know your enemy:

⚡️ What it is: The energy it takes to run your daily operations. The calls, the reports, the fires.

🚨 Its nature: It is not evil. It is urgent. And urgency will always feel more important than importance.

⚠️ Its power: It can derail any initiative and act on your team every minute of every day.

The 4 Disciplines are your weapons to protect your most important goals from being lost in the storm:

1. Focus on the Wildly Important
2. Act on the Lead Measures
3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
4. Create a Cadence of Accountability

What’s your go-to framework to fight the daily whirlwind?

—

👉 Get my free guidebook detailing the 7 essential steps for leadership growth.

Link in bio.

70% of major change initiatives fail.

The dangerous myth? That the new ideas were flawed.

The harsh truth most people miss? It's almost always a failure of leadership.

For decades, we've watched leaders with brilliant visions underestimate the human side of change.

They treat it like a software update, issuing a memo and expecting everyone to comply.

They are unprepared for the inevitable storm of resistance, fear, and inertia.

The result is always the same: wasted money, cynical employees, and a failed initiative that poisons the well for future efforts.

But you don't have to be a statistic. Dr. John Kotter's research provides a proven roadmap for navigating the storm. His 8-Step Model is not a checklist; it's a sequential, disciplined process for leading people through turmoil.

Skipping a step is like leaving a hole in the hull of your ship.

Here is the 8-step voyage to lasting change:

Phase 1: 🌪️ Create a Climate for Change(You can't steer a ship that's tied to the dock.)

→ Step 1: Create Urgency. Make the status quo seem more dangerous than the unknown future.
→ Step 2: Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition. Assemble a credible and influential team to lead the charge.
→ Step 3: Create a Vision for Change. Develop a clear, simple "North Star" to guide every action.

Phase 2: 🤝 Engage and Enable the Organization(Raise the sails and remove the obstacles.)

→ Step 4: Communicate the Vision. Relentlessly, through every channel possible. Then do it again.
→ Step 5: Empower Others to Act. Remove the barriers—be it a legacy system or a resistant manager.
→ Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins. Build momentum and silence the critics with visible successes.

Phase 3: ⚓ Implement and Sustain the Change(Anchor the new way of working in your culture.)

→ Step 7: Consolidate Improvements. Use the credibility from early wins to tackle bigger challenges.
→ Step 8: Anchor in the Culture. Weave the change into "the way we do things around here."

What's your experience?
Which of these 8 steps have you seen leaders skip most often?

—

👉 Get free tips and guidebooks weekly by signing up for my newsletter at the link in my bio.

➡️ The highest-performing teams aren't the smartest, they're the safest.

Most leaders focus on hiring talent but ignore creating environments where that
talent can actually speak up.

Here's how 5 industry leaders master psychological safety:

Google: Project Aristotle discoveries

→ Team diagnostic surveys for psychological safety measurement
→ Blameless post-mortems focusing on systems, not people
→ GTEAM meetings discussing "how we work together"
→ Result: 67% higher performance in psychologically safe teams

Microsoft: Growth mindset transformation

→ Daily pulse surveys for real-time team health monitoring
→ Learning Fridays: 10% time for experimentation
→ Courage Conversations training for difficult discussions
→ Result: 35% increase in employee confidence to speak up

Pixar: The Braintrust model

→ No hierarchy in feedback, junior animators critique directors
→ "Plussing" technique: "Yes, and..." instead of "No, but..."
→ Rapid prototyping with expectation of failure
→ Result: 83% feel safe sharing wild ideas

Netflix: Radical candor at scale

→ "Keeper Test" for transparent performance conversations
→ 360-degree feedback including upward feedback to managers
→ "No Brilliant Jerks" policy, culture matters as much as performance
→ Result: 89% trust their manager to act on feedback

The pattern? All 4 companies:

→ Measure psychological safety consistently
→ Train leaders to model vulnerability
→ Normalize speaking up through structured processes
→ Iterate and improve based on feedback

Amy Edmondson's research shows 4 stages: 

✅ Inclusion Safety
✅ Learner Safety
✅ Contributor Safety
✅ Challenger Safety.

Most teams never reach stage 4, where breakthrough innovation happens.

Which stage is your team at? 

And what's one practice you'll steal from these companies?

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

Why do so many brilliant strategies fail?

It’s rarely the strategy itself. It's the organizational 'body' rejecting the transplant.

After years of advising leaders, I've seen the same painful pattern: companies pour months into crafting the perfect strategic plan, only to watch it stall, lose momentum, or die on the vine.

The cause is almost always a hidden misalignment.

A visionary strategy is useless if the organization's internal machinery isn't wired to execute it.
You can't ask for speed and innovation if your systems are built for rigid control.

The most effective leaders think like doctors. They don't just prescribe a treatment (Strategy); they run a full diagnostic MRI to see the entire system. That's the power of the McKinsey 7S Framework.

The old way: (Recipe for failure)
→ Obsess over strategy
→ Shuffle the structure (the org chart)
→ Hope culture and processes magically catch up

The new way: (Roadmap for alignment)
→ Start with shared values (the organization's heart 🤝)
→ Align the "hard" elements: Strategy 📈, Structure 🏢, and Systems ⚙️
→ And the "soft" elements: Skills 💡, Staff 🧑💼, and Style 🎨

When these 7 elements are in harmony, execution feels effortless. When they're misaligned, you get friction, burnout, and failed initiatives. The difference isn't the quality of your strategy, but the health of your organization.

Take 60 seconds to run a quick diagnosis.

Which of the 7S elements is the most misaligned with your company's strategy right now?

—

👉 Sign up for my newsletter and get my free guidebook detailing the 7 essential steps for leadership growth.  Link in bio.

li_at

JSESSIONID

Heidi De Wolf MODA

70% of cultural transformation initiatives fail within the first year.

After working with 100+ leadership teams, I've discovered the pattern: Most organizations skip the diagnostic phase and jump straight to "solutions."

The problem is that you can't fix what you can't see.

Here's what a successful cultural transformation launch actually looks like:

✅ Days 1-30: Foundation Building
→ Complete comprehensive Cultural Assessment
→ Conduct Informal Culture Analysis (observe actual vs. stated behaviors)
→ Map your Cultural Force Field (based on Lewin's Force Field Analysis)
→ Achieve leadership alignment on desired culture using the Competing Values Framework

✅ Days 31-60: System Design
→ Redesign performance management systems
→ Optimize people processes and structures
→ Evolve communication patterns
→ Choose 2-3 strategic change levers

✅ Days 61-90: Launch & Early Measurement
→ Launch pilot programs with 1-2 teams
→ Collect behavioral and outcome data
→ Begin scaling successful elements
→ Develop 2-3 year transformation roadmap

Companies using this systematic approach see early momentum indicators within 30-60 days.

Things like increased awareness, leadership alignment, and initial behavioral experiments.

Reality check: True cultural transformation takes 2-3 years. This 90-day framework gets you started with a solid foundation.

What's one cultural blind spot your organization might be missing?

Drop your thoughts below. ⬇️

—

👉 DM me "GROWTH" to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

Cultural Transformation Toolkit: Your 90-Day Action Plan

After years of advising leaders on growth, I've seen a dangerous pattern.

Many organizations have a growth hope, not a growth strategy.

They default to one thing: "sell more of what we have."

This leaves them stuck in a saturated market, completely blind to the massive opportunities just over the horizon.

What is the typical pattern across the most successful companies? They navigate it deliberately using a compass.

The best compass for this is the Ansoff Matrix. It's a simple but powerful framework that outlines the four fundamental paths to growth, forcing clarity on your options and the risks involved.

Here are the four cardinal directions every leader must understand:

1. 📈 Market Penetration (Low Risk)
→ The Play: Sell more existing products to your existing market.
→ Think: Coca-Cola launching a new ad campaign to deepen its market share.

2. 🛍️ Product Development (Medium Risk)
→ The Play: Create new products for your loyal, existing customer base.
→ Think: Apple launching the Apple Watch for its massive base of iPhone users.

3. 🌍 Market Development (Medium Risk)
→ The Play: Take your proven products into entirely new markets.
→ Think: Starbucks taking its existing coffee shop model and expanding into China for the first time.

4. 🚀 Diversification (High Risk)
→ The Play: A leap into the unknown with new products for new markets.
→ Think: Virgin Group expanding from a record label into airlines, telecoms, and finance.

Most businesses live their entire lives in quadrant #1.

But true, sustainable growth requires a conscious strategy that considers all four.

What does your growth plan for the next 18 months look like?
Which of these four quadrants are you actually operating in?

—

👉 Get free leadership guides and tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.  Link in my bio.

Vision, Mission, Values... Do your team statements inspire action or just collect dust?

Most leaders have them, but almost everyone is messing them up.

These aren't just buzzwords. They're the operating system for your team.

Get them right, and you create clarity, alignment, and purpose.

Here's the simple breakdown of the only four statements you need:

1. Vision Statement: Your North Star
→ Dreams big about the future
→ Sets direction for everyone
→ Shows where you want to go

2. Mission Statement: Your Roadmap
→ Explains what you do now
→ Shows how you operate
→ Names who you help

3. Values Statement: Your Guardrails
→ Lists core beliefs
→ Guides behavior
→ Sets cultural standards

4. Purpose Statement: Your "Why"
→ Explains deeper meaning
→ Goes beyond money
→ Connects emotionally

When these four are clear and aligned, everything changes.

You don't just lead a team; you lead a movement.

Which statement does your organization need to revisit first?

Share in the comments! ⬇️

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

You hired the best. 

So why do they underperform together?

Here's what I keep seeing after years of executive team development: brilliant individuals thrown together and told to "figure out chemistry."

They rarely do.

→ Personality alone doesn't predict working style
→ Strengths assessments don't reveal values
→ Single-lens tools miss the team system dynamics
→ Individual brilliance ≠ Team excellence

Most teams get one assessment and call it done. 

But that's like diagnosing a patient with only temperature, you miss the complete picture.

What actually changes when you map the full picture:

Before: 

→ Teams talk past each other. 
→ Conflicts feel personal. 
→ Decisions take forever. 
→ Your best people quietly wonder if they belong.

After:

→ Leaders understand why they clash. 
→ Personality differences become productive tension. 
→ Decisions accelerate. 
→ Teams finally function like the sum of their exceptional parts.

The difference?

Four scientifically-validated instruments working together, not one assessment in isolation.

✓ DiSC reveals how they naturally communicate and handle conflict
✓ CliftonStrengths uncovers their natural talents
✓ VIA Character Strengths shows what motivates them
✓ Working Genius identifies their natural role in a project team.

That’s why I developed the Superpower Pyramid.  To create high-performing growth machines.

8 weeks. 4 assessments. 6 facilitated sessions.

📩 DM me "SUPERPOWER" to more.

The Team Performance Paradox

Quick question for leadership teams:

When was the last time you had a real conversation about how you actually work together, not just what you're working on?

Here's what I've observed: Many executive teams spend 100% of their time on strategy, execution, and results. 

And 0% on the operating system that drives all three.

You know the symptoms:

→ Meetings where everyone talks but nothing moves forward
→ The same conflicts surfacing in different forms
→ Talented leaders who seem disengaged or misaligned
→ Decisions that require endless loops of "alignment"

These aren't people problems. 

They're system problems.

Because every leader processes information differently. 

Makes decisions differently. 

Gets energized by different types of work. 

And contributes value in different phases of execution.

What successful teams understand:

Your meeting structure advantages some leaders and silences others. What feels "thorough" to one feels "paralyzed" to another. 

You're asking talented people to operate outside their genius zones.

The problem is that you're running a high-performance team on a one-size-fits-all operating system.

Introducing the Superpower Pyramid.

Through four scientifically-validated assessments (DiSC, CliftonStrengths, VIA Character Strengths, and Working Genius), leadership teams discover the unique combination of personality, talents, values, and working genius that makes each leader exceptional, and how to orchestrate them for maximum impact.

The 8-week program delivers:

✅ Clear understanding of each person's natural "superpower"
✅ A map of how individual strengths complement or conflict
✅ Practical strategies for collaboration that actually work
✅ A sustainable framework for ongoing team development

The measurable results:
→ 25-40% improvement in decision-making speed and collaborative outcomes
→ $100,000+ saved per retained executive leader
→ Enhanced stakeholder relationships through leveraged strengths
→ Accelerated organizational growth through optimized team dynamics

Ready to unlock your team's Combined Superpower?

📩 DM me "SUPERPOWER" to learn how the Superpower Pyramid can transform your leadership team in just 8 weeks.

What If Your Greatest Asset Is Being Underutilized?

From my Thanksgiving table to yours.  Thank you for your continued support, friendship, and engagement.  I am truly grateful and blessed for so many of you who are in my life.

As we look forward to the holiday season, let’s also remember to reach out and help those in need.

No alternative text description for this image

Persuasion isn't manipulation. It's the most underrated leadership superpower.

Having great ideas is common. Getting the buy-in to make them a reality is what separates effective leaders from the rest.

After years of coaching executives, I've learned that the best communicators don't force, they connect.

They use these 8 persuasion secrets to build trust and inspire action:

→ 1. Show Genuine Interest: Remember personal milestones, not just project deadlines. It shows you care about the person, not just their output.

→ 2. Give Strategic Recognition: Praise achievements that directly reflect your team's goals and values. It reinforces what success looks like.

→ 3. Lead With Presence: Your positive energy and open body language set the tone for every interaction. Your team will mirror it.

→ 4. Display Your Human Side: Share appropriate vulnerabilities. It builds psychological safety and encourages others to do the same.

→ 5. Make a Personal Connection: Use names. This simple act makes your message more personal and impactful.

→ 6. Address Issues Directly: When you sense resistance, get curious. Ask questions to transform hidden concerns into productive conversations.

→ 7. Create a Positive Culture: Your authentic passion is contagious. It inspires your team and creates a magnetic workplace.

→ 8. Practice Radical Empathy: Actively work to see the situation from your team's perspective. It's the foundation of effective communication.

These aren't tricks; they are trust-building habits.

Master them, and you'll earn commitment.

Which of these 8 secrets will you focus on this week? 👇

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

📣 A Quick Update for Those Who Follow My Work

Over the coming months, I’m making a small but meaningful shift in how I show up here on LinkedIn. You’ll still see me posting and sharing insights (I’m not going anywhere!), but my deeper focus will be on pouring even more value into my weekly Leaders Succeed Together newsletter.
Why the shift?

Because it matters to me that I can share sources, external links, research, and practical toolkits—the kind of helpful resources that social platforms don’t always make easy to share.  Posting a quick graphic is simple… but real growth requires depth, context, and access to the right tools.
If you’ve been following me because you care about:
✨ Becoming the leader you were meant to be
 ✨ Building positive, resilient cultures
 ✨ Navigating change with clarity, confidence, and purpose
 ✨ Helping your organization grow like never before

…then I’d love for you to join me on the newsletter side of things. That’s where I can go deeper, share exactly what I think will help you, and build something real with you—not just around you.

Here’s my commitment to you:
✅ No selling your information
✅ No spam
✅ No inbox overload

Just one email every Wednesday at 8 AM EST, filled with actionable insights, valuable links, tools, articles, and resources you can use immediately—or pass along to someone who needs them.

I’m incredibly grateful for the amazing people I’ve met on this journey to 25K+ LinkedIn followers. This next step is about building something even more meaningful—a community where leaders truly succeed together.
If you’d like to be part of that community, you can sign up using the View My Newsletter link in my bio.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
 Angela

A sneak peek of my newsletter this week.  Sign up in my bio to get the research-backed insights.

Jack Dyer🕺

JOIN US NEXT WEDNESDAY IN CARDIFF: My team and I are running an interactive workshop!



We’ve seen time and again how
important your LinkedIn profile is.

But we’ve seen so many Leaders
with neglected LinkedIn profiles…
leave thousands ££$$ on the table.

(or more accurately, their keyboard)
So why don’t we change that?

We’ve grown unknown leaders from
total obscurity to thought leadership
on LinkedIn during 2025.

We’ve worked with 11 clients from
the USA…  to the UK…  to the UAE.

Now it’s time we showed you
how to do it FOR YOURSELF!


So we’re launching our interactive
LinkedIn Optimisation Workshop next
Wednesday at Studio Halo Cardiff!

This workshop is an investment
in the future of your business.

We’ll show you how
to get your Storytold™

5 hours that will change everything,
Discounts on remaining tickets,
Link in the comments below,
Only a few places left,
Come and join us,
In Cardiff Bay,
19th Nov,
❤️🕺

https://lnkd.in/e2eN9qn6

Stop posting in the dark. We turn your LinkedIn into a business asset, with almost ZERO effort from you. | Top 1% LinkedIn Storyteller | CEO of Storytold.

Well, that was a success!



This week, my team and I went
to The Business Show London 
and saw 25,000 businesses!

And only a few stood out to us.

We'll be promoting you next week.
Today I'm sharing the adventures 
of our newest team member... 

Jeff Von Duckington!

He's been giving out discounts like
he doesn't give a duck, and only 
a select few people were lucky
enough to meet him this week!

We met many who 
weren't duck-worthy. 

But if we gave you a duck, it means
you made a big impression on us
and we'd love to work with you!

Watch this space. Good things are coming next week.

Natasha, Gabrielle and
I will get your Storytold™
Trust me on this one.

🕺



Some fantastic people:

David Francis, Gemma Kavanagh and Richard Collins

Amie Crews and Paddy Keogh Weller

Katie Shaw and Jessica Hart

Nicola Lyle and Stella Chaplin,

Simon P. and Erina Singh Ellis,

Mike Strange and Clare Bungey

Russell Schaller and Kevin F.

And of course Katerina Christou, Jonathan Russell, Stephanie Henwood, Blair Fiander, Nicole Bachmann, Lewis Sweeting, Amy Parry, Michelle Scott, Alina Khardina

I don’t like my employees.



I love them!
Ok, sorry for the bait and switch.
But it was important for this next part:

I never thought I’d actually
achieve my lifelong dream of
running my own company.


But I have.


And even then, I never thought
I’d get myself a team (I thought I’d
run a freelance solo consultancy)


But I have.


And then, I never expected that
other people would believe in me
and my vision as much as I do.


But they do.


And now, it just feels the most
natural thing in the world to have
become friends with my team.


Because we have.


My team mean the world to me.
I’m not a father. I don’t know if I’ll
ever choose to have kids, and that’s
okay. Everyone does life differently.

But I feel like a proud father of my
team. They’re weird. They’re brilliant.
They make me smile on an hourly basis.

Oh yeah, and they’re gonna think I’m
drunk writing this because why am I
spewing such sentimental nonsense?

Because, quite frankly, it’s true.

Now I’m off to tell them I hate them and
they’re fired. It’s how I show affection.

Don’t worry, they fire me too.
It’s the culture we’ve built, and
often they threaten to overthrow me
and burn Storytold™ to the ground.

Then in the same hour, they create
something outstanding for our clients.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Come and work with us as a client!
https://lnkd.in/ea2qz8vX

Spaces are limited, because there’s
so much awesome flowing from our
team that if you joined us as well….

The universe might explode.
🕺🏻

I worry that I’m never going to be rich.



When I was a freelancer in 2019,
I designed a campaign to the Maldives…

And every day I worked on the project,
I was constantly jealous that this was
a once-in-a-lifetime, luxury holiday,
I’d never have the chance to go on.

It was for the top Citroen salespeople.
The top dealers across the UK could
win a trip to LITERAL paradise.

And I got to design all the
collateral for the whole trip:

→ The itinerary
→ The brochures
→ The web banners
→ The branded menus
→ The personalised boxes
→ The excursions and events
→ Even the damn luggage tags


And I’d never get to go.

Except…. I was dead wrong.

6 years ago I designed this.


But last month,
with my proven Storytold system...
I finally got to go to the Maldives!


This is the power of hard work,
combined with having a dream
that you keep working towards.

For 5 days, my girlfriend and I
experienced what the super-rich
experience about 6 times a year.

So keep working,
keep building something,
and know that anything can
happen if you put your mind to it.

If you’re not where you want
to be right now, I hear you.

But you can be.

If your LinkedIn is neglected
That’s the best place to start.

I grew from 740 to 46K followers
with my proven Storytold system.

And you can too.


Let’s get you to the Maldives!

Burnout isn’t sexy. 




For the last 4 weekends, I’ve been:

- attending business shows in London
- going to public speaking events
- travelling across the UK for work
- running workshops to help others

On top of that, I’ve been working
12 hour days for 5 days a week. 

Which means I haven’t had a 
day off to rest in over a month. 


And y’know what? 


I’m an idiot. 


Because if I want to perform at my best
during the week, I need some downtime!

Humans aren’t designed to run on empty.
We need days off.


So today, I’m not travelling, I’m sat at home 
with my feet up and actually letting my brain 
recover by playing a mindless PC game! 

That photo is from Cardiff on Thursday
(one of many, many, many trips recently)


I’m not getting anyone’s #storytold today! 


Have a great weekend all, and remember:
High achievers like you can only achieve
if you give yourself permission to rest.

The loudest leaders are losing their voices.



Sometime in the last 20 years,
leadership became about showing off.

Every post was carefully crafted to say:

“Look how brilliant I am.”
“Look how many things I know.”
“Look how successful I’ve become.”


But thankfully, things have changed.


There’s so much ‘perfect’ AI content,
that those ‘perfect’ leaders are DONE.
We don’t believe them, and switch off.

The ones who ACTUALLY get attention
are the leaders who admit when they
falter, fail, or even duck things up.


Because it makes them HUMAN!


We pay attention to Leaders who:

→ Admit when “I made a mistake.”
→ Say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
→ Share the lessons they’re learning,
not just the ones they’ve mastered.


Your flaws don't make you weak.

They makes you RELATABLE.


So next time you want to share
something, don’t make it perfect.

Tell us about a time you got it wrong,
and we’ll all respect you a hell of a lot
more than all those ‘look at me’ leaders.

THAT’s how you get your Storytold™ 🕺
Join us for a limited time offer:

https://lnkd.in/e633ifJr

“I want him to do well, but not better than me.”



I overheard this in the gym the
other day (well, the locker room).

And I thought to myself…
I used to think this way.

No need to comment or tell us.
Have you ever thought this too?


This is a very limiting belief.
A mindset winners DON’T have.


For context, here’s the full story:

I was changing after going swimming.
Two other guys were in the locker room.

One guy was talking about his friend.
He got him a job at the same company,
and watched as his friend climbed the
ranks quicker than the guy talking did.

Eventually, his friend became his boss.
And he completed his story by saying:

“Like, I wanted him to be successful…
Just not more successful than me! 😂”

And I get it.
When I was young,
I thought this way too.
(to my shame, looking back)

But if someone is truly your friend,
And if you have an infinite mindset,

You don’t let your own jealousy
begrudge them their success.

You’re happy for them!
You want them to win!
You cheer them on!
You support them!

THEIR success is NOT a reflection of
your own inadequacy. But thinking that
you’re only successful if they’re not, IS.

Leaders know we can all be successful.
And: That comparison keeps you small.

The friend who did well was focused
on being the best version of himself.
By not comparing, he succeeded.

The jealous friend was constantly
comparing. And he got left behind.

Focus on your own journey.
Do the work. Make it happen.
And support others to join you.

There’s enough success for us all.

Jack 🕺

How I hit 46k followers (without using AI)



“AI really pulled through for me”

Someone said when I was freelancing.

No, really. Let me set the scene for you:

Hey Turnipheads, it’s Natasha here.
Where’s Jack? Don't worry about it.

Recently Jack and I spoke about the
hot topic of AI, live on Radio Cardiff.

We’re not against using AI as a tool.
But people become too reliant on it.
It can’t do what people really need.

For example, last year I designed
a little logo for a castle coffee shop.

Showed the guy the logo, and he said
“Nah, we used AI & it pulled through!”


Hint, it didn't.


The logo was badly drawn, low pixels,
not adaptable, no colours, not unique.
A coffee cup with a castle thrown in.

And they liked it….. For 3 days.
Then they just stopped using it.


AI didn't understand the nuances,
or their personality, or their SOUL…
so nobody connected with the logo
emotionally. They deserved BETTER.


👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Connecting with an audience (and
growing to over 46k followers means
understanding personality and nuance.

This is something AI cannot replicate.

AI skips the ‘why’ and “gives outcome”
Worse, everyone can tell when you get
ChatGPT or Claude to write your posts.

I used to have 740 LinkedIn followers.
Now my team and I have +46,000…
Because we connect with EMOTIONS.
We tell authentic stories. AI doesn’t.

AI cannot get your story told.
No matter how fast/easy it is.


For brands that want to build trust.

For those who connect with people,

And for those who have a story to tell:

Thats where real design pulls through.

I’m Natasha, the designer at Storytold.


And our dedicated little team has helped
global CEOs grow on LinkedIn & beyond
with more genuine connections.

Let us help you get your story told:
https://lnkd.in/e2e-4UVa

🕺

AI cant design proper good like

SAVE THE DATE. 19TH NOVEMBER.



My little team and I are running an
interactive workshop…  in Cardiff!

We’ve seen time and again how
important your LinkedIn profile is.

But we’ve seen so many Leaders
leave thousands ££$$ on the table.
Or, more accurately, their keyboard.


So why don’t we change that?


We’ve grown unknown leaders from
total obscurity to thought leadership
on LinkedIn during 2025.

Now it’s time we showed you
how to do it FOR YOURSELF.

It’s taken months of planning…
But we’re finally launching our
new Interactive Workshop at
Studio Halo on 19th November!

This workshop is an investment
in the future of your business.

We’ll show you how
to get your Storytold™

5 hours that will change everything.
Link in the comments below.
Come and join us:

https://lnkd.in/eZQeDqnv

🕺

I realised most CEOs are failing at LinkedIn, and here’s why:



Last week at the 
The Business Show London
a CEO told me difficult to hear:

“Jack… I think LinkedIn just isn’t
for people like me anymore.”

He sounded almost embarrassed
to admit it, and realised he meant:

“I’m posting into the void and
it’s making me doubt myself.”


I get it.


LinkedIn makes smart leaders feel invisible.
Especially when see competitors post the
same recycled ideas, and somehow get
200 likes and three inbound leads from it.


Meanwhile, their own content, the stuff they
spent 20 hours a week sweating over, gets
70 impressions, 2 likes, and duck-all else.
No clicks on their website, no calls booked.


I’ve learned this issue hides a very real fear:
He also said: “Maybe the problem is me.”


It’s not.


The problem is that today, CEOs are
expected to run a business AND magically
become world-class Content Strategists too.


That same CEO told me: “I’ve got a writer.
I’ve got a marketing person. But none of
it is landing us any new clients.”


And ‘cos I want to help him, I told him the truth.


A copywriter can write. A marketer can post.
But neither can build influence if the strategy,
psychology, and story aren’t connecting on
an emotional level with your audience.


–  It’s not about posting more often.
–  Or designing prettier photos.
–  Or being “more creative.”


It’s about having a message that
cuts through, CONSISTENTLY, without
draining the CEO’s time or brainpower.


So we ran a Brand Discovery session.
We rebuilt his message. We stopped
guessing. We created a strategy that
matched his buyers’ behaviour.


And within 3 weeks, his posts were
doing what they were supposed to:

Getting attention. Building authority.
Starting conversations. Attracting leads.

Not because he changed.
But because his strategy did.


You don’t need to post more.
You need a team that posts SMARTER,
and turns your expertise into demand.


That same CEO who used to spend
20 hours of worry, now spends one
hour a week laughing on a call with us.

And his LinkedIn has become a real
business asset, not just a time sink.


And if you’ve been spending 20 hours
a week writing LinkedIn posts that take
all your energy and give nothing back…


Then it’s time for a change.


It’s time to make LinkedIn work for YOU,
without you doing all the work. DM me.


We’ll help you get your story told.
https://lnkd.in/ecCVYZhK

What’s most important to your business?



Most would say ‘getting new clients’.
That’s the whole point of networking.

But in many leaders, the thought of
“networking” brings us out in hives.

What if there was a way to attract
more clients, organically, without
chasing down the leads yourself?


There is.


Storytelling.


It’s like magic.


And when you combine the two,
you become simply unstoppable.

For every 10 exhibitors at
The Business Show London,
there was 1 who told their story.
THEY’re the ones who got noticed.

When you turn your LinkedIn profile
into an optimised, story-driven page,

And when you tell #authentic stories
that provide raw value to an audience

That’s when you’ve transcended just
networking, and when your business
hits a higher level of real engagement.


If your LinkedIn page could make sales
while you slept… would you invest in it?


'course you would.


I did. And I went from a nobody,
to 45,000+ followers, a team of 5,
and #CEO of a flourishing business.

And to replicate this for yourself, join
the other Storytold™ partners here ↓
https://lnkd.in/ewa_-z-Z

What's a success story?



For me, it's more about 
the impact we have on
our clients lives than
just the numbers.

Sure, we grew Justin from
5,300 followers to 10,091
in just over three months.

Sure, we made Cassandra's
Sports Tech brand basically
famous with her audience.

But the most impactful moments
are where we grow a business
and the owner's personal life...

IMPROVES DRAMATICALLY.

That's what happens when
you get your Storytold™

Trust me on this one.

"How do I stop my posts sounding like AI?"



I went to an event last night,
and someone asked me this.

The answer is surprisingly simple.

Don't ask #AI to write your post.

Or if you do, be smart and edit it with 
your own thoughts before you post it.

The greatest source of power and 
imagination on earth isn’t far away.

It’s right between your ears.

And you’re not using it.

People want to hear from YOU,
not a robot writing on your behalf.

Stop damaging your own reputation
by taking the ‘easy’ path with AI.

Trust me on this one.

#Storytold 🕺

From invisible to influential | Top 1% LinkedIn Storyteller & Leader | CEO of Storytold. | 15+ years empowering CEOs with integrity and authentic, visual storytelling. | Architect of the Unseen

Most CEOs get 0 leads from LinkedIn for 1 reason:



Because they’re scared to look unprofessional.

LinkedIn creates a strange pressure where
leaders feel they must always be perfect:

Perfect tone, perfect message, perfect ideas.
But really, perfection is damaging their brand.

Humans (y’know the people who buy from us)
connect with other relatable, flawed humans

Not polish, perfect, poetic, professional posts
Stop PEEING everywhere! We need REAL!!

The moment you share something real,
not rehearsed, everything changes:

→  Your authority grows.
→→  Your audience pays attention.
→→→  Your content converts into leads.

Not because you kept being perfect.
but because you start sounding like YOU.


This is exactly what we help CEOs do:
turn your voice into posts that build trust,
cut through AI noise, and bring you leads…

… without you spending hours
writing posts that go nowhere.


We’ve done it for Leaders from New York
to Dubai. Join us to turn your LinkedIn into
consistent authority and new opportunities.

Let’s get your storytold.
Trust me on this one.


P.S. Who spotted the spelling mistakes in this post? They're importnat: They prove I wrote this myself, without AI!

I was writing a description of Storytold today, and there was a little “Generate with AI” button. Curious, I clicked it.

I also wrote my own, from my brain.
Can you guess which one is which?


OPTION A:
We emphasise authentic, real stories, an intimate Brand Discovery process, and help our clients communicate with real, ego-less stories about their past that connect them more authentically to their audience.


OPTION B:
We think creatively to deliver impactful results for our clients. We specialize in crafting and implementing strategies that elevate brand narratives and drive growth.
 
 
Did you guess which was which?
 

Mine was A. While my version isn’t
perfect, it definitely sounds more 
real than B, the AI written version.

The AI impressed me with how 
accurate the description was… 
But something wasn’t right. 

It somehow managed to be factual
correct with the description of our 
services, yet it also reads as hollow 
and soul-less at the same time.


This is why we need to use 
our human brains more often. 

This is why, when it comes 
to something important, 
we CANNOT outsource it to AI.

So if you're using AI to write content, 
you're damaging your reputation.

It doesn't have to be us, but get
a team of humans who write in
YOUR tone of voice instead.


Your business grows when you get your Storytold™

I gave away 3 secrets last night:



1. Know what you’re writing, and why
it matters to your audience. Content,
without intent, is meaningless.

2. Make your audience the hero.
It’s not about YOU. You’re just
the one delivering the message.

3. Format your posts nicely, in a way
that makes them attractive to read.
Nobody reads big WALLS of text.

Along with working 14 hour days and
making dozens of mistakes along the
way, that’s why Storytold™ has grown.

… From invisibility with 740 followers…
to influencing over 45,700 every day.

These “secrets” transformed my life.
They allowed me to go from employee,
to business owner with a team of five!

And I’m sharing them with you.
I don’t want anything in return.
Just use them, put in the work,
and thank me later!

This is how you get your #Storytold
(or message, and we’ll do it for you)

🕺🏻

Last week I did my first ever LinkedIn Live!  Let me know what you all think

Host of “Consulting Leaders”, Top 10% Active Podcasts Globally | I help B2B Coaches & Consultants get clients with Podcasts.

Description: 

Jack Dyer🕺 is the CEO of Storytold™, where he helps founders and consultants become influential online through authentic, visual storytelling, especially on LinkedIn. With 15+ years of experience in UX, branding, and narrative design, he turns a leader’s story into a commercial asset.
In this episode, we break down how consultants can use digital storytelling to attract better clients, build trust at scale, and communicate in a way that actually feels like them.

***************************************************************************

Links:

StreamYard (for guest):  https://lnkd.in/d3e233pv
YouTube (for sharing):  https://lnkd.in/dvJhggWp
Apply to be a guest: https://lnkd.in/dt6pEfjE

***************************************************************************

Jack's Bio: 

Jack Dyer is the CEO of Storytold™, a firm that helps founders and CEOs go from invisible to influential with authentic, visual storytelling. He’s a Top 1% LinkedIn storyteller with 45,000+ followers and more than 15 years of experience in UX, branding, and digital design.
His background spans award-winning websites, national digital systems, UX work across industries, and global brands like Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz. At Storytold™, he and his team build story-driven websites and content systems that elevate a leader’s profile and grow their net worth.

***************************************************************************

Show Notes: 

Jack Dyer is a designer-turned-founder who now runs Storytold™, a consultancy focused on transforming how leaders communicate online. He helps consultants and CEOs move from being “good at what they do but invisible online” to becoming influential voices with a clear narrative and a recognisable digital presence.
His team creates UX-led websites, LinkedIn makeovers, creative concepts, video, and content that reflect a leader’s true personality, not the generic, polished persona most people default to. The goal is simple: make your digital presence a revenue-generating asset.
For consulting firm owners, Jack’s experience sits right at the intersection of story, design, and growth, a combination that can help any consultant communicate more clearly and close clients more easily.

taplio

The Battle

Angela Crawford

Jack Dyer🕺

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreAngela Crawford's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJack Dyer🕺's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Angela Crawford

Jack Dyer🕺

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Angela Crawford's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJack Dyer🕺's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreAngela Crawford's LinkedIn Performance