The James Comey Phenomenon
Personal branding is a euphemism for self-promotion — tantamount to cringeworthy narcissism. It’s all the rage in today’s shallow, self-aggrandizing culture.
Because I advise CEOs about branding, many people who contact me wrongly assume that my service is personal branding. Why? First, it is a fad. Second, a CEO directly involved in corporate branding, rather than relegating it to the marketing department, is a foreign concept to them.
Remember: the brand is the company’s connection to customers; it sets the company’s purpose and direction — responsibilities of the CEO.
Accordingly, the CEO who brings unseemly attention to himself runs the risk of permanently damaging his reputation and that of his current or former organization.
Instead, the chief executive should focus on building her reputation, through performance and results — building and strengthening the company’s brand — and not on inflating her ego.
Enter James Comey
President Trump fired James Comey as FBI director on May 9, 2017, because of his questionable handling of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, on which she illegally stored then deleted classified documents, when she was secretary of state under Obama. Specifically, during his July 5, 2016, press conference, Comey shockingly announced that he wouldn’t file any charges against Clinton but described her actions as “extremely careless.” Comey improperly used the Steele dossier — a fake document alleging ties between Trump and Russia (the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax) — despite knowing it contained unverified information. Comey lied to the FISA court by endorsing a surveillance warrant on former Trump aid Carter Page, based on the Steele dossier, omitting that it was funded by Clinton’s campaign and contained unconfirmed details. Carter Page sued the DOJ, FBI, and James Comey for $75M, but the judge dismissed the suit.
Comey, a true dirtbag, framed and destroyed the reputation of General Michael Flynn, who briefly served as Trump’s national security advisor. On January 24, 2017, Comey sent FBI agents to “interview” Flynn at the White House about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak (which the FBI knew were legitimate) during the transition period. Feeling trapped, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about these discussions but subsequently withdrew his plea, claiming he was coerced. In a 2018 interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, James Comey gleefully bragged about the Flynn interview, admitting that he’d circumvented White House protocol by sending FBI agents to the White House to interview Flynn, without permission, advising him that he didn’t need to have a lawyer present — “because we could” and that it was “something I probably wouldn’t have done or wouldn’t have gotten away with in a more organized administration.”
At the end of April 2018, James Comey, the embattled former FBI director, made the rounds promoting his book. And, he diminished himself in the process. He proved himself a disgrace to the FBI, whose executives and agents cringed every time the sanctimonious Comey would appear on another TV show to whine about Trump. Participants in a Frank Luntz focus group utterly trashed him! And, Comey further discredited himself in a hard-hitting, widely praised interview with Bret Baier of Fox news. Michael Horowitz, inspector general of the US Department of Justice, found James Comey insubordinate as FBI director.
The Comey-caused Mueller investigation, which lasted 22 months (from May 17, 2017, to March 22, 2019) and cost $32M, proved that Trump was innocent of Russian collusion.
Fast-forward to 2025. On May 15, 2025, Trump-hating James Comey posted a photo on his Instagram account of a collection of seashells — coincidentally spelling out “8647,” which means assassinate Trump — that he just happened to spot during a leisurely stroll with his wife. After someone discovered this photo and raised Hell on social media, Comey deleted the photo, pretending again to be a victim of Trump, claiming he didn’t create the seashell message and feigning ignorance about its meaning. The FBI interviewed Comey and his wife, and Comey called the whole incident “a bit of a distraction.” Comey continued his prevarication by claiming he had “no dark intention with 8647 post.”
VERDICT: I counsel against personal branding. Watch my video below to learn more.
Advice to CEOs
When you hear personal branding, think James Comey. Enough said.
Focus on improving your company’s brand. Your reputation will be linked to that success — because so few people can do it.
I can help you sharpen your company’s brand and coach you to pitch it to investors and reporters. Contact me HERE.
Finally, click on the image below to buy my books.
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