The Narrative Capital Index

Narrative Capital is the reputational equity and cumulative value of your experience, your choices, and the story you've built along the way.

Most leaders reduce themselves to their current role and their latest metrics. That's like saying your net worth is only what's in your checking account. There's a lot of value missing from that calculation.

For me, it would mean leaving out my years in theatre and television because they don't look like the work I do now. But that's where I learned to communicate, build a message, and understand an audience. I learned it in the trenches, with investors' money at risk. Those experiences are part of why I can do the work I do today.

The detours count. So do some of the things that didn't work. You don't get authority simply because you've been through something, but what you learned there may be exactly what makes your judgment valuable now.

Narrative Capital matters because people make decisions about you with whatever they can see and understand. If all you give them is a title and a few results, you're asking them to judge a fraction of what you bring.

That carries into a company, too. Its story helps people understand what the business has earned the right to claim. When the actual experience of working there or buying from it supports that story, trust has something to build on.

Your story is a balance-sheet asset. Narrative Capital is how you account for the value that's already there—and put it to work.