There is a deeper story you are really telling and it has an impact on your business. Elon Musk's case shows why

We don’t just remember people. We remember the story we associate with them.

And behind every strong personal brand, whether admired or criticised, there’s a hidden structure, one that mirrors the universal patterns of storytelling. Christopher Booker, in The Seven Basic Plots, identified the universal narrative templates that shape all stories and ultimately how we make sense of lives, struggles and success His theory is that all the stories of all time fall into one of the following plots:

• Overcoming the monster, where the hero confronts a powerful enemy or threat.
• The quest, a journey toward a higher goal through trials and allies.
• Voyage and return, where a protagonist enters a strange world, is transformed, and returns changed.
• Comedy, not just in humour, but as a movement from confusion to harmony and resolution.
• Tragedy, where greatness collapses through a fatal flaw or misjudgement.
• Rebirth, a fall followed by redemption and transformation.
• Rags to riches, a rise from obscurity to recognition or power.

These plots aren’t limited to fiction. They shape how we perceive real people: those in the public eye, and those whose stories unfold within smaller, professional circles. This includes you, and the community where your business reputation takes form. A personal brand is not only what you say about yourself. It’s the kind of story people believe they are watching unfold.

Let’s take the example of Elon Musk, a particularly emblematic figure.

There are two distinct moments in Musk’s brand story. One lighter, one darker—at least in the minds of many. In the first, we witness the birth of a modern hero: brilliant, eccentric, and determined to push humanity forward. In the second, we see a morphing of that hero into what some now perceive as a villain: polarising, combative, and driven more by power than purpose. It is this narrative turn—from quest to tragedy—that reshaped not only his personal image but the brands most closely associated with him.

Plot I: the visionary hero (the quest)

For years, Musk’s personal brand embodied the archetype of the entrepreneurial hero on a mission. His was the story of a man determined to solve humanity’s greatest challenges, revolutionising transport, enabling interplanetary life, advancing AI. Each venture, from Tesla to SpaceX to Neuralink, was framed not as a business, but as a purposeful quest.

He was awkward, often controversial, but authentic in his ambition. The public responded not to his perfection, but to the scale of his vision. One particularly touching moment came during an interview in which he broke into tears, admitting how deeply it pained him that his heroes at NASA didn’t understand the vision he was pursuing. He was on a journey to take us somewhere extraordinary. And he invited the world to come along.

Plot II: the dissonant turn (tragedy)

Then the plot shifted.

The acquisition of Twitter marked a narrative rupture. What once seemed bold and principled began to feel extreme and erratic. Musk’s “first principles” thinking, which had once been admired as clarity, turned into an ethic of cold execution. Thousands of employees were dismissed overnight. Empathy gave way to calculation.

His support of Donald Trump and public remarks endorsing mass firings of civil servants added fuel to the transformation. For many, the figure who had once symbolised visionary disruption began to look like a reckless technocrat, more interested in influence than in progress, more cynical than inspiring.

The story had morphed into a tragedy. The hero had become, in the eyes of many, the antagonist of his own myth.

The cost of a broken story

Narrative shifts have consequences. Especially when your personal brand is tightly fused with the brands you lead.

Tesla, the company most aligned with Musk’s identity, is showing signs of reputational strain. In 2024, global Tesla sales declined for the first time in years. Beyond competitive pressure and product cycles, there’s a shift in sentiment. In 2025 many studies show a sharp drop in Musk’s favourability across key demographics, particularly among younger buyers and women. In markets where Tesla once enjoyed cult-like loyalty, emotional detachment is growing. For many, the story has changed. And so has the brand’s meaning.

What story are you telling?

So here’s the question: what story are you telling?

People don’t just judge what you say or do.

They follow the plot they believe they’re watching unfold.

And that story has the power to elevate (or undo) your brand.

Are you building a personal brand rooted in the quest?

Are you someone who ventured far and came back changed (voyage and return) or someone bringing clarity and harmony to complex spaces (comedy in Booker’s sense)?

Have you gone through a rebirth? Or are you risking becoming the central figure in a tragedy, where perception erodes the value you’ve built?

Pause and think: what story are your actions telling today? How is your business community reading the meaning of what you do and say, moment by moment?