[NEW INSIGHT] 6 ways to build executive visibility without burning out
A strong personal brand gives leaders the credibility, visibility, and influence needed to shape decisions, secure opportunities, and accelerate career growth.
Without it, even the most capable leaders can be overlooked, their ideas undervalued, and their impact limited, leaving opportunities to others who have mastered the art of being seen and heard.
This article breaks down the essential principles of personal branding, showing you how to build an executive profile that resonates, endures, and drives impact beyond your industry.
Your views need to be original to deliver genuine value. This helps you build authority and reduce scepticism.
Personal branding builds your profile by reflecting your interests, expertise, and core values across various channels.
If you’re in tech, this might mean becoming known as an AI expert who believes in ethical innovation.
Though it wasn’t always a priority, in recent years, it has become increasingly so, thanks to the rise of modern media and stakeholders now preferring to work with visible leaders who appear transparent and trustworthy.
The benefits?
One aspect is enhancing your company's reputation.
Another is creating opportunities to advance your career through influence and strategic relationship building.
That said, this is only possible if you stay authentic.
This means sharing views that deliver genuine value, the kind that builds authority, reduces scepticism, and, over time, earns trust and credibility.
As soon as you pretend to be someone that you’re not by reiterating another’s insights, adopting similar speaking styles, or simply acting for the camera, you won’t be taken seriously.
Some audiences may even loathe you for perceived attention-seeking, causing your following decline, and your company’s public image to be tainted, leading to repercussions like declining stocks or tarnished partnerships.
For instance, even well-recognised, successful CEOs like Elon Musk aren’t exempt from public backlash when they do or say the wrong things. His actions have repeatedly moved Tesla stock and shaped public perception of the company.
This underlines why, when it comes to personal branding, you must constantly think from your audience’s perspective to steer clear of potential reputational risks.
Always ask yourself: if someone else said this, would I take it seriously and how would it change my perception of them?
This self-awareness will save you from irreversible mistakes more times than you realise.
Having clear objectives allows you to proactively shape relevant trends when they erupt to consistently remain front of mind with your key audiences.
Whenever you launch a campaign, you need clear objectives.
If you lead at a startup this might mean better establishing yourself among investors.
If your company is overcoming a crisis, you might want to shift negative perceptions.
If recruitment is key, you’ll be creating content that shows you’re a good employer.
Essentially, each of these focuses help you target the right audience, with the right message, across the right channels, so that your CEO branding campaigns resonate.
Having clear objectives also allows you to proactively shape relevant trends when they erupt to stay consistently stay timely and remain front of mind with your key audiences.
Lastly, achieving your goals or not tells whether your CEO branding efforts have worked. This is imperative to know, so you can remediate mistakes and avoid future errors.
When you lack direction and post aimlessly, you risk saturating your voice and skewing your key messaging. In other words, audiences won’t know what to believe.
Because of this, you won’t ever be able to raise the stakes, build on your reputation, or drive impact. Instead, spreading yourself too thin becomes counterproductive.
Ever heard of the phrase 'jack of all trades, master of none'? That’s what you’ll be. Always prioritise strategy over content for content's sake. Your future self will thank you.
Make statements that you actually believe, deem realistic, and can ideally back up with experience or data.
We’ve worked with hundreds of C-Suite executives. If there’s one piece of advice that we’ve told each of them, it’s to really push the boat out with a statement no one else knows, believes is possible, or dares to say themselves (within reason).
This is what will convince journalists to read and accept your media pitches. It'll lead to more opportunities for high-quality coverage and greater engagement across social platforms.
Think of it this way: The media thrive because they publish stories with controversial headlines that shocks, amazes, or captivates. To succeed, you need to play the same game.
Of course, you should only make statements that you actually believe, deem realistic, and can ideally back up with experience or data. But thinking as leftfield as possible is what’s going to make your C-Suite brand really stand out.
If you lack this edge, you’re only going to blend in with your peers. And that won’t lead to anything.
Too many executives play it safe with their content, fearing that their stakeholders will disagree with their views.
Well, guess what? If you’re serious about your C-Suite branding, disagreement is often unavoidable.
Besides, unless you say something offensive or poorly timed, debates are often healthy. It’s how change is instigated in board room and in politics, as well as in public forums, on social media, and in the broader business community.
If you lack this edge, you’re only going to blend in with your peers. And that won’t lead to anything.
Always ask: Is this the right time, the right audience, the right channel, and the right tone?
To earn genuine trust and credibility, only make statements that you can follow through on.
If you don’t:
Your employees may lose confidence in your leadership.
Customers could question your reliability.
Investors might hesitate to back your initiatives.
Partners may doubt your commitments.
And your overall reputation can take a lasting hit.
This is exactly how many companies have faced criticism and declining stakeholder trust for failing to deliver on their sustainability commitments.
It's also how others who've stayed true to their word have capitalised on others' mishaps, building credibility, loyalty, and a competitive advantage.
Make sure you're in the right camp.
There's a fine line between sharing your insights and coming across as self-promotional. Cross it and you risk turning your audience off.
You can seem out of touch with reality.
Content can become repetitive.
Bragging can create resentment.
You risk diluting your key messages.
Always ask: Is this the right time, the right audience, the right channel, and the right tone?
If the answer is yes, share away. If not, hold fire.
Engage with the media at least once a month, post on social media one to three times a week, and perhaps attend a conference every year.
The best entrepreneur branding campaigns take place across multiple channels.
On one hand, this about expanding your reach and building familiarity among audiences.
On the other hand, it reinforces your key points consistently, so your audience hears a unified, credible message no matter where they encounter you.
In terms of the channels you should prioritise, make sure you engage with the media at least once a month, post on social media one to three times a week, and perhaps attend a conference every year.
Just make sure you tailor content for each channel appropriately.
Interviews with journalists require preparation, involving concise messaging and a good understanding of what information they want from you.
Opinion articles submitted to publications need to be well structured with a clear argument, compelling evidence, and a strong conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.
Social posts need to be short and punchy, clear of jargon, and creatively constructed with emoji’s, images, multimedia, and graphics to ease engagement.
Event attendance should be selective and highly relevant to your areas of expertise to ensure your presence reinforces your expertise and doesn’t dilute your voice.
Taking onboard this advice can make or break your campaigns.
Tailor both the channel and the format to your audience’s preferences and see what works.
When you don’t frequent multiple channels and leave your visibility to chance, your entrepreneur brand risks fading into obscurity and your key messages may never get heard.
For instance, talent is most active on LinkedIn, whereas investors and industry analysts may be more engaged through newsletters, conferences, or trade publications.
Different audiences also respond to different formats. Some people engage better with written content, like articles, newsletters, or LinkedIn posts, while others are more drawn to multimedia, such as videos, podcasts, or webinars.
In fact, research shows that visual content is processed by the brain 6–600 times faster than text, thereby helping your message resonate far more efficiently. And still, founders and CEOs continue to overlook its impact.
So don’t be afraid to experiment. Tailor both the channel and the format to your audience’s preferences and see what works.
As your objectives change and your company grows, you need to think carefully about what’s best for your positioning.
We always tell our clients upfront that personal branding isn’t an easy project.
It takes a while to build strong relationships. And you should never really pause your efforts if you want to maintain relevance and give your business credibility and an influence boost that marketing alone can’t deliver.
You also need resilience to keep your personal brand moving when business performance limits investment, when crises require extra attention to control narratives, and as the media landscape shifts and coverage is never guaranteed.
And as your objectives change and your company grows, you need to think carefully about what’s best for your positioning and how to align your personal brand with evolving priorities.
If you go into personal branding thinking you can use it as a one-time tool to launch a product or secure a promotion, yes, it might initially help. But you won’t reap the full benefits.
Any media coverage you earn will eventually fade away, media relationships won’t have a chance to deepen, your following may start to decline, and you won’t be able to nail down a consistent reputation.
Others, who are also competing for the spotlight, will inevitably get ahead of you. And in the worst case, audiences will see through your tokenistic efforts.
Update your audience regularly to reinforce your message, build trust, and demonstrate the evolution of your thinking over time.
Whenever you post on social or write for the media, you can’t just regurgitate insights and expect that to move the needle. That’s closer to marketing than CEO thought leadership.
Instead, use storytelling as a device to introduce your ideas, connect relevance, meaning, and impact, and ensure everything you say is memorable.
Of course, you still need to be concise for clarity's sake. But finding the right balance usually comes with practice.
How do you craft a powerful story?
Start with a clear insight that matters to your audience.
Show why it matters using real examples or data.
Connect your insight to a bigger trend or purpose.
Make it personal to improve relatability.
End with a takeaway that’s easy to remember and act on.
Then, update your audience regularly to reinforce your message, build trust, and demonstrate the evolution of your thinking over time.
It’s best to simplify your message as best as possible, or, if you can’t, use video to communicate your message in easy-to-digest way.
The worst thing you can do? Overload your CEO branding content with jargon.
It’s a mistake far too many executives make, thinking that they need to prove they are a specialist. But all it does is distract from the point you’re trying to make.
This isn’t to say that jargon isn’t inherently bad. For example, technical articles in trade publications might require it, and some journalists are subject matter experts themselves.
But when you start to overuse jargon across every channel, you seriously risk alienating your audience, the exact opposite of what your CEO brand is meant to achieve.
The best thing to do? Simplify your message, or, if you can’t, use video strategically to do so.
The amount of coverage you secure, particularly within well-established outlets, can give you a good idea of whether your insights are one, novel, and two, valuable.
To know whether your C-Suite branding is delivering value, there’s several metrics you can (and should) use.
In the first instance, you should measure followers, engagement, and click through rates to see whether your insights, achievements, coverage, and multimedia is resonating with your audience.
Second, the amount of coverage you secure, particularly within well-established outlets, can give you a good idea of whether your insights are one, novel, and two, valuable.
Lastly, tools like GA4 help you see whether your personal brand is delivering a tangible business impact, such as a rise in website visits, time spent on key pages, or conversations such as newsletter sign-ups or inquiries.
If everything looks positive, don't stop to maintain your momentum.
You’ll establish yourself as a reliable voice others can depend on, boosting your profile and helping your company reach its objectives.
While C-Suite branding can deliver positive outcomes for your business, resist the temptation to frame it as a marketing tool.
Remember: It does guarantee trust. It doesn't guarantee sales.
Fail to realise this and you'll neglect the quieter but critical actions, like nurturing media relationships or sharing content that's not always strictly corporate, such as day-in-the-life content that gives your audience a human, relatable glimpse of who you are beyond the boardroom.
And you’ll put yourself under unnecessary pressure, expecting C-Suite branding to drive immediate sales, when in reality influence often takes time to compound.
By staying authentic, setting clear objectives, thinking beyond the obvious, and following through on your words, you consistently add value to the conversations that matter most.
You’ll establish yourself as a reliable voice that others can depend on, helping your company reach its objectives, and building a personal brand that lasts.