storytelling to influence without authority

Aug 4

How impact professionals can use narrative to make the case when their work is under pressure

published 8.4.25

Summer is impact report fledging season. The pages sustainability teams from across industries have fussed over for half the year are finally being released into the wild. And though report launches are always a highlight for us and the teams behind them, they feel especially significant this year.

As we look back on the past few months, one thing’s become clear: we’re in a moment. Budgets are tightening, priorities are shifting and the work that once felt like a given now needs justifying. At qb., we’re seeing more and more of our clients find themselves having to make the case for reporting—or even for continuing to invest in sustainability, inclusion, or broader impact work at all.

We’ve said it before—the work is still happening. In fact, in 2025, not one of our clients scrapped their report, which is a feat even in “normal” years. But that doesn’t mean it’s been easy.

Recently, qb. hosted a webinar on how to use storytelling—specifically, business-aligned storytelling—to influence decision-making when you don’t hold the final say. These are lessons worth keeping in mind as we gear up for the next reporting season… even if most of us are catching our breath right now.

Here’s a distilled version of what we covered:

1. The Landscape: Uncertainty, Pushback and “Who Is This All For, Anyway?”

We’re seeing the same headlines you are: layoffs, political backlash and inclusive and sustainable practices writ large under scrutiny. It’s no surprise that some stakeholders are reacting by trying to scale back public disclosures or delay their reports.

However, despite all that nervous energy, the momentum behind corporate responsibility hasn’t vanished. In fact, 71% of Americans support climate action from companies and a majority—including over half of Republicans—want CEOs to speak up about DEI and sustainability. Remember, there’s also reputational risk in not doing the work.

2. What’s Changing in Reporting

We’re seeing that:

Reports are getting shorter, sharper.
Clients are trimming 50+-page tomes down to 10–20 pages. Mission-driven, feel-good intros are being replaced with tighter framing grounded in materiality.
Narratives are evolving.
Think: “This is what we did last year and why it matters to the business” rather than “Here’s our big vision for changing the world.”

3. Storytelling as a Strategic Tool

Making the case doesn’t mean shouting louder—it means getting clearer. Often, the best first step is getting your story straight by aligning on a shared narrative. That can mean:

Talking to your in-house allies across legal and teams that have a stake in the work
Taking the time to understand the concerns behind pushback
Choosing your battles and being okay with compromise

4. The Real Risk of Doing Nothing

We’ll say it again, there’s as much risk in not doing the work as there is in doing it. That’s because all impact is inseparable from business impact—and should always be framed that way. Good storytelling isn’t fluff, it’s effective because it:

Acknowledges leadership’s concerns
Connects the work to material business outcomes
Frames risk as something to manage, not avoid

Our job as impact professionals isn’t just to “push the report through.” It’s to help decision-makers see the cost of inaction—reputational, social and financial—as well as the upside of continuing to invest.

5. Examples from the Field

Every client’s path is different. Here are a few anonymized examples from this year:

Heritage brand, first-time reporters

Nervous about board scrutiny, but secured CEO buy-in by positioning the report as a reputational tool—not a compliance document.

Consumer app

Faced internal hesitancy about publishing. Framing the report around employee and user expectations helped leadership green-light it.

Tech company

Radically shortened its report and focused on AI and innovation while still highlighting inclusion work in a way that spoke to business value.

6. Final Thought: Influence Without Authority

If you found yourself needing to make the case for your work this year, you’re in good company. You’re not adrift. You’re part of a collective of smart, creative people trying to shape the future of business from inside the system.

Storytelling gives you power, whether or not you hold formal authority. Use it to communicate your work for what it is: a strategic, smart investment—and an inextricable part of doing business today.

We’re doing this work with our clients every day at qb., and we’re always down to swap stories. Let us know what story worked for you this year—and what didn’t. (And if you want help sharpening your internal narrative, that’s kind of our thing.) Let’s start a conversation.