How to Stop Being Your Company’s Best-Kept Secret: Strategies for Gaining Visibility and Improving Your Personal Brand

Recently, I had the privilege of hosting 20 phenomenal executive women for our "Power & Perception" Leadership Brunch at Zero Bond in New York City.

As we settled in to discuss the relationship between power and perception , we confronted a reality most of us wished was different: high performance matters, but clarity about your value is what actually turns that performance into opportunity. Too often, exceptional leaders let their work "speak for itself," inadvertently leaving influence, compensation, and career advancement on the table.

Today, the storm is the new norm. Whether it’s economic shifts, industry disruptions, or organizational restructuring, leaders need to be storm-ready and adaptable. At C-Suite Coach, we focus on developing storm ready leaders. And the ultimate storm ready anchor in a volatile market? A strong, undeniable personal brand.

The Danger of a Vague Reputation

Early in my career, I held corporate roles at media companies like ESPN and Viacom. My mom, who does not work in media, never really understood exactly what I did all day. So, when people asked her about my job, she would just shrug and tell them, "She does marketing."

The result? A whole bunch of people naturally started coming to me with marketing questions and seeking marketing opportunities—except I didn't actually do marketing!

It was an innocent enough summary from her, but looking back, the challenge was actually on me. I should have found ways to make what I did more easily relatable to her—and to my broader network—so that they all could properly field the right opportunities to me.

Here is the reality of managing perception: when people don't have the answers, they try to find their own. It is human nature to want to put something in a box and know exactly how to categorize it. If the box that you are creating for yourself isn't a clear one, or if it misrepresents how you actually want to be perceived, it creates a massive issue for your career trajectory.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee said it perfectly: "If you don't use your voice, people will speak for you, people will make decisions for you and people will judge you based on your silence."

If you do not clearly define your value, someone else will define it for you—and they usually aim too low.

Well, What Is a Personal Brand? And How Do I Define Mine?

When we talk about improving your personal brand, a lot of people cringe. Let's clear up a myth: your brand is not about how many times you post on LinkedIn or what social media platforms you're using. Not necessarily.

Well, what is a personal brand, then? How do you define yours?

Your brand is the consistent experience people have when they work with you. It is your professional signature. It is a strategic and focused strategy for showing up in the places that matter to the opportunities you want to gain.

You can define yours by looking at your unique differentiators. How do you naturally stand out? Are you the leader who always brings calm and a solutions-oriented framework to a crisis? Are you known for translating complex data into stories that executives actually understand? Your brand is the intersection of the results you deliver and the reputation you build.

Branding Allows You to Pivot

There is a massive misconception that gaining visibility is just a vanity project. In reality, having a strong brand—where people perceive you as someone who always delivers high-quality work—is exactly what gives you mobility. Branding allows you to pivot.

When I quit my corporate career to launch C-Suite Coach, I was completely changing lanes. A lot of my initial clients came from people who couldn't necessarily say whether or not I was great at leadership development yet. But they trusted that I would deliver a high quality of service because of how I had executed in the past.

They didn't buy into a coaching and training resume; they bet on my reputation. When people know you are committed to excellence, that reputation travels with you, no matter what title you hold or what industry you enter.

The Inbound Test: Are You Driving the Right Opportunities?

I look at branding as a way to drive more inbounds to you that you actually want.

Take a look at your inbox, your messages, or the projects you are currently being tapped for. If a lot of people are reaching out to you and it is not for the things that you want to be doing, then something in your brand is disconnected. They are not seeing the actual value you want them to see.

That disconnect is a missed opportunity. It is also a massive waste of your time because you are constantly having to field the wrong requests. A strong brand acts as a filter and a magnet—it does the heavy lifting of driving the right opportunities directly to you.

What Opportunities Are You Leaving on the Table?

Think about your current career trajectory. What are the opportunities you are leaving on the table right now?

• Are you feeling stagnant or unrecognized for your true contributions?

• Are you watching peers get tapped for exciting speaking engagements or high-visibility projects that you are consistently passed over for?

• Are you missing out on being invited into the right rooms and the critical decision-making meetings?

These aren't just strokes of bad luck—these missed opportunities are often a direct result of you not actively managing your professional perception.

How do you position yourself for those? You start by conducting a visibility audit. You find out where you are operating like a ghost—whether that is with your direct manager, cross-functional teams, or senior leadership—and you take strategic steps to show up there with intention.

You have immense power, but as Alice Walker says "the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any." Stop waiting for the work to speak for itself, and stop fielding opportunities you don't actually want. You are the architect of your reputation and creator of your next opportunity.

If you want the exact exercises we used at Zero Bond to fix brand disconnects, conduct a visibility audit, and drive the right inbounds, grab a copy of my workbook, Personal Brand With Purpose: A Practical System for Visibility, Influence, and Growth. Available now at csuitecoach.com to help you build out your 30-day activation plan.