The real reason brilliant leaders feel invisible despite their success
You walk into a room and people listen.
In meetings, your insights land. When you speak at industry events, people approach you afterward wanting to continue the conversation. Your team follows your vision, and your clients trust your judgment.
You're magnetic in person. Authentic. Real.
So why does creating content feel like speaking through cotton wool? Why do your LinkedIn posts sound like they were written by a corporate robot? And why does building a "personal brand" make you want to hide under your desk?
Here's what I've learned after helping CEOs and MDs for years: You're not broken. The advice is.
The Personal Brand Myth That's Killing Your Visibility
Let me guess what you've been told about building your personal brand:
"Post consistently!" (Even when you have nothing meaningful to say)
"Share your expertise!" (In 3-bullet-point formats that drain your soul)
"Be authentic!" (While following content templates that make everyone sound the same)
"Tell your story!" (Using frameworks that strip out everything interesting about you)
No wonder it feels awful. You're trying to squeeze your leadership presence through a content creation meat grinder designed for people building from scratch.
But you're not building from scratch. You're already successful. You just can't figure out how to translate your real-world presence to the digital world.
The Translation Problem
After 25+ years managing campaigns for L'Oréal, Ryanair, and global brands worth millions, I know something about communication that works under pressure.
The problem isn't that you lack presence. The problem is translation.
You know how to read a room, but you don't know how to read an algorithm.
You know how to have strategic conversations, but you don't know how to have strategic conversations with an audience you can't see.
You know how to position your thinking in boardrooms, but you freeze when trying to position your thinking in a post.
You're not less charismatic online. You're using the wrong approach.
What Actually Happens in Those Magnetic Moments
Think about the last time someone said "I never thought about it that way" after talking with you.
What were you doing?
- You weren't following a content template
- You weren't trying to sound "professional"
- You weren't worried about what everyone would think
- You were responding to something specific
- You were sharing your actual perspective
- You were being yourself, just focused
That's strategic visibility. Not performing. Not pretending. Just being yourself with intention.
The Charisma Translation Framework
Your in-person charisma comes from three things that absolutely translate online:
1. You Have Opinions (And You're Not Afraid to Share Them)
In person, you don't hedge every statement. You don't say "I think maybe possibly this might be true if market conditions align."
You say "Here's what I've learned after 15 years in this industry..."
Online? Same energy. Stop hedging.
2. You Connect Ideas in Ways Others Don't
In conversations, you draw connections between seemingly unrelated things. You say "This reminds me of when..." or "The pattern I'm seeing here is..."
That's your strategic thinking in action. That's what makes people lean in.
Online? Share those connections. They're content gold.
3. You Respond to What's Actually Happening
In person, you're not delivering prepared speeches. You're responding to the room, the moment, the specific challenge someone just mentioned.
Online? Stop trying to create content in a vacuum. Respond to industry developments, conversations you're having, problems you're solving.
The Strategic Shift That Changes Everything
Here's the shift that transforms everything: Stop creating content. Start having conversations.
Instead of asking "What should I post?" ask "What conversation am I already having that would be valuable for others to hear?"
Instead of "How do I build my personal brand?" ask "How do I extend the conversations I'm already great at having?"
Instead of "What's my content strategy?" ask "What's my conversation strategy?"
Real Strategic Visibility in Action
Instead of: "5 tips for leadership in challenging times"
Try: "Had three different CEOs tell me this week they're struggling with the same thing. Here's the pattern I'm seeing..."
Instead of: "Excited to share my thoughts on industry transformation"
Try: "Someone asked me yesterday why I think most digital transformations fail. Honest answer: because they're not actually transformation projects. They're technology projects with transformation marketing."
Instead of: "Grateful for another successful quarter"
Try: "Two years ago, a potential client told me our approach would never work in their industry. This week, their biggest competitor hired us to do exactly what we proposed. Markets change faster than opinions."
See the difference? Same insights. Same you. Just translated from conversation to content.
The Permission You've Been Waiting For
You don't need to become a content creator. You're already a strategic thinker.
You don't need to build a personal brand. You already have a reputation.
You don't need to be more authentic. You need to be more intentional about showing your authentic thinking to people who need to see it.
Your charisma isn't missing online. It's just trapped behind advice that was never designed for someone like you.
The Strategic Question
So here's what I want you to consider:
What would happen if you brought the same confidence you have in boardrooms to your online presence?
What opportunities would notice you? What conversations would you be invited into? What impact could you make if the right people actually knew how you think?
Because when your digital presence matches your real-world presence, everything changes.
The opportunities that should be yours? They start finding you.
Photo credit: Elaine Walsh McGrath
Blog Home
All Blogs
RSS
