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Welcome to Personal Brand: Executive Perspective with Michelle Madziva, a weekly column dedicated to the art and strategy of personal branding.
In our first article, we established that your title gives you authority, but your reputation gives you influence. Last week, we explored what happens when the title changes, but the reputation attached to your name remains. This week, I want to address the next question:
How visible are you beyond the walls of your organisation?
Do the people who matter in your industry know what you know, how you think, your values and what you stand for? Visibility is becoming an increasingly important part of executive leadership whether we like it or not.
The 2025 Edelman -LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, based on nearly 2,000 global professionals, found that 64 percent of target decision makers and 63 percent of hidden decision makers spend more than an hour a week consuming thought leadership. This includes articles, research reports, social media posts, videos, webinars and live presentations. More importantly, more than half say they use thought leadership when evaluating potential vendors.
This tells us something important,people are forming opinions about expertise before they even enter the room with you. So one may wonder, how should an executive become visible?
Start by identifying a subject that you want your name to be associated with then you start building your visibility around it. Write about it on LinkedIn or even publish articles in the press or business magazines, speak about it at speaking engagements and events and comment intelligently on developments within that particular area. Also, share lessons from your experience and participate in conversations where those issues are being discussed. Become the thought leader in your area of expertise.
Strategic visibility should be deliberate and consistent and not just a conference photograph today, a LinkedIn post next month and a media interview when an opportunity appears.Your visibility should create a trail of evidence to such an extent that, when someone encounters your name several times ,they begin to understand: this is what this person knows; this is what they think; this is the perspective they bring.
Your content does not always need to be promotional.In fact, the strongest executive visibility often begins with a useful idea.
A CEO can explain a leadership lesson.
A lawyer can interpret a regulatory development.
A banker can discuss a shift in the market.
A human resources executive can challenge conventional thinking about talent.
A business leader can share what a difficult decision taught them.
Your experience is content and your perspective is intellectual capital.So here is a practical challenge for this week:
Choose a subject that you want to be known for. Write one thoughtful piece about it.Try to comment meaningfully on at least three industry conversations. Lastly, identify one speaking, media or networking opportunity where your expertise can add value. Then repeat the same cycle next week and the week after. If you know your expertise but struggle to articulate it, position it or take it into the right rooms, a professional personal branding strategist can help you navigate that journey.
Executive visibility is not about being everywhere. It is about being known for something valuable, by the people who matter in your industry.
Michelle Madziva
Founder & CEO, Grand Curations
Corporate Strategist | Personal Branding Consultant
Online Reporter