From writing to storytelling to boardroom branding

How Words Became My Personal Growth Tool 

If someone had told my younger self that writing would become my life’s most reliable tool for self-awareness, emotional expression, and professional reinvention, I would have smiled politely and gone back to my notebook. 

Back then, writing was not a career plan. It was a coping mechanism. A private space. A silent friend. Over the years, it became something far bigger: a mirror, a compass, and eventually, a professional identity. 

Today, I work at the intersection of business storytelling, digital branding, and board leadership. But the story of how I reached here begins in a much simpler place: poetry. 

Poetry: My First Brush with Creativity 

My earliest memory of creative writing is Hindi poetry. As a young boy, I found myself drawn to words not for applause, but for expression. 

Poetry gave me a safe channel for emotions I could not always speak aloud. When you are young, you often feel deeply but lack the vocabulary to explain your inner world. Poetry became my vocabulary. 

It was also my first experience of how writing can regulate emotions. When you write, you slow down. You process. You turn chaos into meaning. And without realizing it, you begin practicing one of the most powerful life skills: emotional clarity. 

Alongside poetry, I also explored debates, speech writing, and public speaking (school election speeches, poetry recitation etc). These experiences did something subtle but significant. They helped me connect the inner world of writing with the outer world of communication. 

Writing was no longer only private. It began to touch the public. 

Anecdotes: My Journey into Storytelling 

As I grew older, I started writing personal anecdotes. Initially, they were simply a record of life experiences, like a diary with better editing. 

But slowly, I began to notice a pattern: whenever I wrote about moments of conflict, confusion, or failure, I always felt lighter afterwards. Writing gave me perspective. It helped me reframe what had happened. 

I did not know it then, but I was learning to tell stories. 

Storytelling is not just about entertaining others. It is about understanding yourself. It is the art of giving meaning to experience. 

From Free Writing to Structured Thinking 

Writing evolved again when I entered academics. 

My years in academia, and especially writing my PhD thesis, trained me in structured thinking. Academic writing does not allow emotional wandering. Rants and random thoughts are not welcome. Every argument must be backed by logic, evidence, and clarity. 

At first, I found it restrictive. Later, I saw the gift in it. Structure brought discipline. Discipline brought precision. And precision brought power. 

This was the phase where I began moving from “writing as expression” to “writing as architecture.” I started building frameworks. I learned how to convert abstract ideas into clear models and complex experiences into teachable insights. This is where personal growth met professional transformation. 

Boardroom Branding: The Current Destination 

Later, when I entered the world of branding and consulting, I realized something fascinating: the same skills that help an individual make sense of their life also help brands make sense of their purpose. 

Strategic storytelling and narrative building are powerful tools. They shape perception, build trust, and create influence. Whether you are a brand manager, a consultant, or a leader, your narrative is always working, even when you are not. 

Today, my work focuses on what I call boardroom branding: helping CXOs and aspiring independent directors build credible, authentic leadership brands for board-level roles. 

At the board level, people do not evaluate you only on competence. They evaluate you on judgment, maturity, integrity, strategic thinking, and governance mindset. And these qualities are difficult to prove through a CV alone. 

That is where storytelling becomes a serious leadership tool. Your stories become evidence and governance signals. Your narrative becomes your credibility. 

In many ways, I feel I have reached my “final destination.” But life has a sense of humor, and destiny loves plot twists. 

So who knows? Maybe one day God will decide to turn me into a filmmaker. After all, I have always believed this: when you write, you do not just document life. 

You design it. 

By Dr Amit Nagpal

Dr Amit Nagpal coaches aspiring board directors and C-Suite. He has published 7 books so far