Book Reviews: Professional and Workplace Communication
Topics: Communication practices within technical organizations and teams, including project communication strategies and work/life balance
Personal Branding for Introverts
Goldie Chan. New York, NY: Basic Venture. 2025. 256 pages, including index.
Index Terms: Branding, business, introversion, marketing, self-help, social media,
Reviewed by Josh Anderson, an Information Architect at Paligo (josh.anderson@paligo.net).
Review published 21 Feb 2026
The idea of establishing a strong “personal brand” can feel like something limited to those who are outgoing, extroverted, and talkative. Personal Branding for Introverts argues that even those of us who don’t thrive in people-heavy, socially dense environments have the capacity to make a name for ourselves and be recognized as leaders in our professions.
This is especially true for those who are willing to take advantage of social media and commit to consistently creating useful, visible online content. Goldie Chan writes about how she posted 800 consecutive daily videos on LinkedIn, which then led to further professional opportunities. This exhortation to create, create, and create some more is what I found most memorable. After reading this book, I felt inspired to update my blog and post on LinkedIn, which I had been ignoring for months.
Apart from the obvious but helpful reminder that volume and consistency are your best shot at getting noticed by your peers, I found much of the book’s advice familiar, albeit presented in a straightforward and easy-to-read manner. Those who are early in their careers or who have not yet spent much time considering how to establish a presence in their field beyond their immediate daily workplace may learn more from this book than I did. I’m not sure you even need to be an introvert to glean wisdom from this book since much of its advice struck me as applicable to anyone. For example, I see no reason why extroverts cannot also leverage technology and establish content calendars for themselves. Chan shares tips for the introvert to do things like schedule breaks when we go to public events or feel confident to turn down requests so that we can avoid burnout. As a self-described introvert who is already years into a professional career, much of this insight I had already figured out for myself.
Chan insists that introverts do not need to change themselves into extroverts to find professional success, which I agree with, but as a result I questioned a couple of her examples of successful introverts named in the book. Marilyn Monroe is described as someone who completely reinvented herself—changing her name, altering her appearance, and even training herself to speak in a breathy voice—to find stardom. Mike Tyson is quoted as regarding himself as a normally “shy and introverted guy” who then adopts an “extreme super extrovert” persona when he’s in the boxing ring (p. 46). I found it tough to reconcile Chan’s advice to both be genuine but also “transform strategically” (p. 52). I know there is a difference between introversion and social anxiety, but it is not uncommon to see an overlap between the two, so the suggestion that we simply be more like Monroe or Tyson struck me as overambitious and unlikely to be put into practice by any normal introvert reading the book.
Personal Branding for Introverts is most valuable when it emphasizes sustainable habits—consistent creation, clear goals, and intentional boundaries—rather than dramatic reinvention. Those who are just beginning to think about their own professional visibility may find motivation in these pages, while more established introverted professionals will more likely interpret this advice as confirmation.
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The Price of Nice: Why Comfort Keeps Us Stuck—and 4 Actions for Real Change
Amira Barger. Oakland, CA. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 2025. 208 pages, including index.
Index terms: Business communication, change agents, organizational change
Reviewed by Joanne M. DeVoir
Review published 21 Feb 2026
The Price of Nice: Why Comfort Keeps Us Stuck and 4 Actions for Real Change is an action-oriented examination of how niceness is a social, organizational construct that often preserves comfort over meaningful change. Amira Barger explores the historical, social, and psychological underpinnings of niceness and argues that habits often labeled as polite, supportive, or conflict-avoidant frequently function to maintain norms. The book’s purpose is to help readers recognize these patterns and replace them with deliberate behaviors that promote accountability, clarity, and progress. The book achieves this purpose well by combining personal narrative, cultural critique, and structured actions that readers can apply in their own personal and professional lives.
Professional communicators who want to enable positive change are the primary audience for The Price of Nice. This book will also interest organizational leaders, managers, and any professionals who want to learn how to be more courageous, authentic, and impactful. If you sometimes think, “If I speak up, will they think I’m not nice?” (p. xi), I recommend this book. Academics will appreciate this book for its clear framing of niceness as a socially reinforced behavior that can limit both individual and social progress. The author also provides a useful lens for examining power, silence, and accountability in organizational communication, making this book relevant for both teaching and scholarship in professional communication, business, and related fields.
Barger defines in the introduction what she means by “nice” and why it is problematic. Niceness is not kindness or empathy, but it is a pattern of behavior that is reinforced from childhood, which prioritizes comfort over truth. She contends that niceness often masquerades as professionalism while discouraging honesty, reinforcing power imbalances, and protecting the status quo. This framing establishes the book’s central idea that niceness can be personally and organizationally costly.
Barger organizes the book into four sections that align with actions for change: Think, Feel, Do, and Revisit. This framework, rooted in social psychology and widely used in professional communications, reinforces the book’s central claim that change requires cognitive awareness, emotional engagement, behavioral action, and sustained reflection.
The Think section describes mental models and how society and institutions reward niceness. In Barger’s view, the opposite of nice is nerve. Nerve is resilience, standing up for your beliefs, maintaining boundaries, and speaking up for yourself and others even when it is uncomfortable. She challenges readers to examine how words and our assumptions affect how we think about the world and dives into how niceness has been used as a control tool and a way to maintain norms throughout history. Barger also discusses social conditioning and explains the psychological and sociological underpinnings of niceness. “At its core, the drive to be nice stems from a fundamental human need for belonging…To feel accepted, people often suppress their true feelings and desires, aligning with group norms” (p. 63).
In the Feel section, Barger discusses how emotional intelligence supports the capacity to act with greater nerve. “By looking at things differently, we can rethink our reactions, grow, and turn tough moments into opportunities for real change” (p. 111). She identifies four characteristics of niceness that impede progress—lack of awareness, accountability, agency, and adaptability—and reinforces these concepts with clear, easy-to-scan tables that contrast “nice” and “nerve” behaviors. Barger encourages the use of journaling to surface assumptions and patterns and emphasizes the importance of becoming comfortable with discomfort as a necessary condition for change.
Barger discusses in the Do section the concrete behaviors to move from nice to nerve, stressing that “change requires us to communicate with intention, clarity, and courage” (p. 127). She provides examples of change agents throughout history, explores how to communicate with nerve in both your professional and personal life, and calls out the seemingly small, everyday “nice” behaviors that keep us stuck and reviews the power dynamics that are often in play in the workplace. Barber also explains how leaders can use balance, strength, flexibility, and endurance to ensure that growth opportunities are available for everyone in an organization.
Part 4, Revisit, contains one chapter that explores how to sustain change. Barger encourages readers to revisit assumptions, reflect on outcomes, and recalibrate actions as contexts evolve. “Revisiting is a commitment to show up again and again—not perfectly, but purposefully” (p. 158).
Throughout the book, Barger includes “promising practices” that offer practical guidance for translating the book’s concepts into action. She also provides a comprehensive daily reflection checklist that integrates the book’s core ideas and encourages application as well as a list of references for further reading.
The author relies heavily on narrative, reflection, and behavioral examples rather than empirical studies. For some readers, especially those in highly regulated or data-driven environments, this may leave open questions about measurement and scalability. However, this choice also makes the book accessible and adaptable across industries and roles.
Overall, The Price of Nice is a compelling, practical guide for anyone who believes that politeness can sometimes undermine progress. Barger offers language, insight, and actionable guidance for replacing comfort-driven habits with intentional communication, accountability, and action. The book’s clear structure, relatable examples, and focus on everyday behavior make it a useful resource for professionals who want to lead, communicate, and collaborate more honestly, bravely, and effectively.