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Control the Narrative: The Executive's Guide to Building, Pivoting and Repairing Your Reputation
DISTINGUISHED NYC Big Book Award 2021 - Career
3rd 2022 CIPA EVVY Awards - Self-help
Everyone has a personal brand, by design or default. Your reputation is one of the most critical determinants of your career success.
Control the Narrative makes your reputation work for you by using the power of personal branding to put you in control of the opportunities you attract. For professionals seeking to grow, change or fix their careers, the book shows you how to capitalize on the reputation assets that are relevant to your goals and shed the ones that no longer serve you. If you have made a career mistake and need help repairing your reputation, you'll discover how to assess the situation, break the crisis down into a series of actionable responses and re-establish career viability.
To be effective, a personal brand must be authentic. Through the process of personal branding, Control the Narrative helps you uncover the core values that form the foundation of your strategy for building, pivoting or repairing your reputation. This book also shows you how to measure the success of your brand and provides suggestions for modifying your strategy when results aren't what you expected. Filled with real life examples, Control the Narrative provides you with the strategic advice and tactical assets to consistently and confidently create a positive reputation.
3rd 2022 CIPA EVVY Awards - Self-help
Everyone has a personal brand, by design or default. Your reputation is one of the most critical determinants of your career success.
Control the Narrative makes your reputation work for you by using the power of personal branding to put you in control of the opportunities you attract. For professionals seeking to grow, change or fix their careers, the book shows you how to capitalize on the reputation assets that are relevant to your goals and shed the ones that no longer serve you. If you have made a career mistake and need help repairing your reputation, you'll discover how to assess the situation, break the crisis down into a series of actionable responses and re-establish career viability.
To be effective, a personal brand must be authentic. Through the process of personal branding, Control the Narrative helps you uncover the core values that form the foundation of your strategy for building, pivoting or repairing your reputation. This book also shows you how to measure the success of your brand and provides suggestions for modifying your strategy when results aren't what you expected. Filled with real life examples, Control the Narrative provides you with the strategic advice and tactical assets to consistently and confidently create a positive reputation.
256 pages, Paperback
Published May 25, 2021
3 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 16, 2021
The book is just great! Personal branding is very important and shaping the strategy and tactics that fit your journey to a successful personal brand is vita for anyone. This book gives so many tools and examples that it leaves you with the seeds of thought of how you can work on your own brand, make it sustainable and driving you in the direction you want to be.
January 16, 2022
Legacy Importance - Having read books on the role narrative plays related to companies (e.g., see my review of Bushe and Marshak’s “Dialogic Organization Development”), I was drawn to this title regarding the personal sphere.
In particular, given that I am in the latter part of my own career, what had particular appeal was the author’s connection between narrative and our individual legacies. For instance, she says, “When we talk about legacy, it’s helpful to remember the story of Alfred Nobel.” Citroen elaborates that because of his concern for legacy, Nobel is now most remembered for awards bearing his name for peace, science, economics and literary achievement rather than his invention and manufacture of dynamite. She lays out and illustrates ways others of us, while less dramatic or impactful as Nobel, might pursue a similar path.
More specifically, the book consists of an Introduction and 10 chapters: (1) How perception is formed; (2) Changing perception through personal branding; (3) How to take control of reputation: strategy; (4) How to take control of reputation) tactics; (5) Pivoting your reputation; (6) Repairing your reputation; (7) Agree to stay the course; (8) Measuring and monitoring reputational assets; (9) Reputation risk management; and (10) Final thoughts.
Parts that stood out for me were Citroen’s remarks concerning reputational legacy and strategy importance as well as her tactics overview and pivot approach. For instance (in Kindle Location 2118), she stresses “Today, you can design your legacy and how you’ll live up to it from this moment forward by designing your personal brand strategy, adding in specific tactics, and controlling the narrative about who you are, what you believe in and stand for, and how you add value to the audiences around you.” Later (Location 2380), the author indicates “Your pivot to a new focus or venture or career may not be obvious to those around you. It is your job to ensure they see the logic, rationale and reasoning behind your move and that comes from your narrative. You must control the ‘why’ before you can explain the ‘what.’”
While Citroen’s overall presentation is clear, it’s most straightforward aspects for me came in those places where she had graphics and/or outlines. For instance, in maybe her only figure, she illuminates tactics particularly effectively. That is (in Location 1682) the author indicates “In Figure 4.1 [Personal branding tactics], you can see each of the tactics we’ll be reviewing as part of the implementation and action of your personal brand to build your desired reputation” (then using the diagram to discuss interplay between “Narrative,” “Strategic Network,” “Digital Reputation,” “Executive Presence,” and “Your Personal Brand”). It would have been good to see further along these lines (e.g., see my review of Puglisi’s “Content, Inc. that provides many figures and covers related material from a different slant). Another area that could have used more attention are ethical considerations as in recent years our public sphere has been dominated by those who claim to serve societal interests while actually pursuing self-serving agendas. For example, (in Location 667-72) the author points out that “Traditional media started as one-way communication . . . Social media opened up a dialog . . . This changed the dynamic greatly . . . [resulting in] more opinion-based commentary . . . [where it] became confusing . . . [making it more difficult to] delineate between the facts . . . and opinion.” However, she does not deal with consequences or implications in this regard (see my review of Gladstone’s “The Trouble with Reality”).
None the less, Citroen shows us how “. . . narrative is storytelling. . . [and] When we shape, develop and share narrative, we can use language . . . [to address] our own . . . [and our] audience[‘s needs]” in a constructive and meaningful manner (e.g., see my review of Eco’s “Six Walks in a Fictional Woods” for another take on narrative’s importance). Thus, her message and the stories she uses to inform it deserve the attention from anyone who might have similar interests or concerns.
In particular, given that I am in the latter part of my own career, what had particular appeal was the author’s connection between narrative and our individual legacies. For instance, she says, “When we talk about legacy, it’s helpful to remember the story of Alfred Nobel.” Citroen elaborates that because of his concern for legacy, Nobel is now most remembered for awards bearing his name for peace, science, economics and literary achievement rather than his invention and manufacture of dynamite. She lays out and illustrates ways others of us, while less dramatic or impactful as Nobel, might pursue a similar path.
More specifically, the book consists of an Introduction and 10 chapters: (1) How perception is formed; (2) Changing perception through personal branding; (3) How to take control of reputation: strategy; (4) How to take control of reputation) tactics; (5) Pivoting your reputation; (6) Repairing your reputation; (7) Agree to stay the course; (8) Measuring and monitoring reputational assets; (9) Reputation risk management; and (10) Final thoughts.
Parts that stood out for me were Citroen’s remarks concerning reputational legacy and strategy importance as well as her tactics overview and pivot approach. For instance (in Kindle Location 2118), she stresses “Today, you can design your legacy and how you’ll live up to it from this moment forward by designing your personal brand strategy, adding in specific tactics, and controlling the narrative about who you are, what you believe in and stand for, and how you add value to the audiences around you.” Later (Location 2380), the author indicates “Your pivot to a new focus or venture or career may not be obvious to those around you. It is your job to ensure they see the logic, rationale and reasoning behind your move and that comes from your narrative. You must control the ‘why’ before you can explain the ‘what.’”
While Citroen’s overall presentation is clear, it’s most straightforward aspects for me came in those places where she had graphics and/or outlines. For instance, in maybe her only figure, she illuminates tactics particularly effectively. That is (in Location 1682) the author indicates “In Figure 4.1 [Personal branding tactics], you can see each of the tactics we’ll be reviewing as part of the implementation and action of your personal brand to build your desired reputation” (then using the diagram to discuss interplay between “Narrative,” “Strategic Network,” “Digital Reputation,” “Executive Presence,” and “Your Personal Brand”). It would have been good to see further along these lines (e.g., see my review of Puglisi’s “Content, Inc. that provides many figures and covers related material from a different slant). Another area that could have used more attention are ethical considerations as in recent years our public sphere has been dominated by those who claim to serve societal interests while actually pursuing self-serving agendas. For example, (in Location 667-72) the author points out that “Traditional media started as one-way communication . . . Social media opened up a dialog . . . This changed the dynamic greatly . . . [resulting in] more opinion-based commentary . . . [where it] became confusing . . . [making it more difficult to] delineate between the facts . . . and opinion.” However, she does not deal with consequences or implications in this regard (see my review of Gladstone’s “The Trouble with Reality”).
None the less, Citroen shows us how “. . . narrative is storytelling. . . [and] When we shape, develop and share narrative, we can use language . . . [to address] our own . . . [and our] audience[‘s needs]” in a constructive and meaningful manner (e.g., see my review of Eco’s “Six Walks in a Fictional Woods” for another take on narrative’s importance). Thus, her message and the stories she uses to inform it deserve the attention from anyone who might have similar interests or concerns.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews