The Storytelling Advantage: A Senior PM’s Blueprint for Recognition

If you’re not getting promoted despite delivering great results, here’s how to fix it…

Storytelling isn’t just a skill for PMs. It’s a legit superpower.

Here’s how to use storytelling to create more impact and get recognized for it:

I partnered with 6-year Google GPM Roshan Gupta to bring you the scoop.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗺𝗮:

After sitting on countless promotion committees and leading product organizations for over a decade, we’ve identified what holds talented PMs back from advancing to senior roles:

“Not being able to show their impact in a way that resonates and sticks.”

The best way to bridge that gap? Storytelling.

Not the kind of storytelling that spins a yarn, but the skill to…

→ Craft clear, persuasive, and memorable narratives that drive alignment

→ Inspire teams, and make decision-makers remember you.

Here’s the reality of product leadership and why storytelling is the superpower you didn’t know you needed.

𝟭. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

Hard work without context is invisible.

𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

→Delivering features, meeting deadlines, and shipping on time is all it takes to shine.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:

→ Delivering results isn’t enough if they aren’t tied to larger business outcomes.

→ If your work doesn’t tell a story that resonates with the organization, it’s just noise.

→ Impact is about rallying teams around a shared purpose and making strategy actionable.

𝟮. 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

Great work doesn’t speak for itself — you have to give it a voice.

𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

→ Senior leaders will recognize your results without you needing to explain them.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:

→ Decision-makers are bombarded with information; if you’re not memorable, you’re invisible.

→ Articulating impact is about framing outcomes in terms of business value, not tasks.

→ Promotions are won in absentia which means your story has to do the heavy lifting when you’re not in the room.

𝟯. 𝗣𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

Admiration isn’t advocacy.

𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

→ Your peers see the value of your work, and that’s enough to support your promotion.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:

→ Peer advocacy is critical in team-driven organizations.

→ Great PMs ensure their contributions are well-known and easily shared across the team.

→ If your impact story isn’t clear enough for peers to internalize and advocate for, you’re left fighting for yourself, a battle rarely won.

If you want to dive deeper into mastering storytelling principles and learn how to leverage them to scale your career, check out the full guide.