Imagine if the most powerful growth channel for your company wasn’t your website, your ads, or even your marketing team, but your leaders.
You don’t need to be a movie star to have a following or engage an audience. If you’re a leader with a point of view, valuable experience, and something worth saying, people will listen.
That’s the essence of personal branding, and no one understands it better than Ash Jones, Founder of Great Influence and one of the UK’s top advisors on personal branding.
In this episode of The Content 10x Podcast, our CEO and founder, Amy Woods, welcomes Ash back for his second conversation, this time exploring how companies can turn having a leadership team with strong personal brands on LinkedIn into their competitive advantage.
From working on the personal brand of Steven Barlett, serial entrepreneur, dragon on BBC’s Dragons Den and perhaps most well-known for his podcast Diary of a CEO, to the leadership team at Booking.com, Ash has spent the last decade helping founders and executives build influence that drives real business impact.
Listen or watch the full episode below, or keep reading for key takeaways on why leadership voices matter more than ever and how companies can amplify them on LinkedIn.
What is personal branding?
Personal branding has evolved a lot over the last decade. When Ash started Great Influence, he worked mainly with entrepreneurs, influencers, and company founders to shape their personal brands. Today, more and more companies are coming to him for something different – to build the personal brands of their leadership teams on LinkedIn.
The shift began when he was approached by online travel giant Booking.com, who wanted his help building the LinkedIn presence of their leadership team. What began as a pilot with one person quickly grew to five, then ten. The demand has only continued to grow as more companies see the impact of having visible, trusted voices representing their brand.
That momentum led Ash to launch Great Leaders, where they work with the c-suite plus the less obvious voices inside a company, share their expertise and build influence on LinkedIn.
Few quotes capture personal branding better than Jeff Bezos’s take: “Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room.” When you see the Nike logo, you think of energy, drive, and excellence. So, what comes to mind when people see you?
7 reasons companies should invest in leadership voices on LinkedIn
Should personal branding be part of a company’s training budget? We asked Ash why companies should invest in personal branding for their leadership team, and here’s what he had to say.
1. Attract top talent
A strong leadership presence on LinkedIn builds your employer brand and helps you stand out in a crowded talent market. As Ash explained, “People want to know who they’re working for, not just a brand.”
A leader who advocates for a company gives that company a human face, one that people can relate to, trust, and want to work with.
2. Retain great people
Leadership visibility doesn’t just attract talent, it helps keep it.
When employees see their leaders communicating openly and authentically online, it builds loyalty and pride. People are far more likely to stay at a company when they feel inspired by the people leading it.
3. Humanize the brand
Leaders bring the brand to life. Their voices make the company feel more relatable, transparent, and trustworthy.
A post from a real person sharing experiences, lessons, or reflections resonates more deeply than any corporate statement ever could.
4. Strengthen internal communication
During times of change, people don’t want to hear from a logo, they want to hear from a person.
As Ash explained, when companies go through restructures or transformation, visible leaders help bring empathy, clarity, and reassurance to internal communications when it matters most.
5. Expand brand reach and credibility
LinkedIn’s algorithm favors people over pages, and leaders who post regularly amplify their company’s visibility far beyond what a corporate account can achieve. In fact, a Refine Labs study revealed that sharing content through a personal LinkedIn profile drives 2.75x more impressions and 5x more engagement when compared to a company profile.
Each leader becomes an additional, authentic channel for brand storytelling, industry insight, and reputation building.
6. Measurable business impact
When several people within a company have an online presence and their own take on a common message, it creates a ripple effect that builds what Ash calls “distributed thought leadership” - and that can translate to real business growth.
For larger companies like Booking.com with 20,000 - 50,000 employees, even a 0.1% increase make a noticeable difference. Ash compared this with startups and founders/business owners, where growth typically needs to be in the 1% - 20% range to move the needle on metrics tied to communication and brand perception.
7. Personal and professional growth
This isn’t just good for the company, it’s transformative for the leaders themselves.
Sharing ideas and engaging on LinkedIn helps leaders refine their thinking, strengthen communication skills, and expand their networks.
As Ash noted, leadership visibility builds confidence, connection, and a deeper sense of purpose, for both the individual and the organisation.
Types of content pillars for personal branding
If you’re thinking about growing your personal brand on LinkedIn but aren’t sure what to post about, a great place to start is by defining a few content pillars that feel like a natural fit for you. Here are a few examples.
1. Professional expertise
Share what you know. Talk about trends, lessons learned, or what’s changing in your industry. Posts like these help your audience see you as credible and approachable.
For example, a Head of People might post about talent retention trends, team highlights, and culture wins, all of which reinforce both their expertise and the company’s values.
2. The human side of leadership
People want to hear from humans, not job titles. Show the person behind the position, your values, wins, and even the tough lessons. A little honesty goes a long way in building trust and relatability.
3. Company culture and advocacy
Your voice can be one of your company’s biggest brand assets. Show off what it’s really like behind the scenes. Celebrate your team, highlight your company values, and talk about the people who make the work happen.
4. Strategic communication
When your company is changing direction or launching something new, people want to hear from you, not a press release. Use LinkedIn to communicate exciting updates, share context, and give people clarity.
5. Mentorship and growth
Everyone loves leaders who lift others. Share career advice, lessons learned, or mistakes you’ve grown from. These posts perform well because they show you’re experienced, approachable, and willing to help others succeed.
Common objections to building leadership visibility
Even if the benefits are clear and not really in dispute, not every company or leader jumps on board right away with building a personal brand and visibility online.
Ash says there are a few common objections that come up time and time again.
Here are some of the big ones.
1. “They’ll get headhunted.”
This is the classic concern. Companies worry that if leaders build visibility, other businesses will try to poach them. As Ash points out, that mindset misses the point – it’s outdated and risk averse.
A visible leader doesn’t weaken the business, they strengthen it.
Just as a great salesperson brings value through their network, visible leaders bring credibility, trust, and opportunity while they’re with you.
It’s not about the risk of losing them, it’s about the opportunity to maximise their impact.
2. “They don’t have time.”
Senior leaders are naturally busy people – aren’t we all! But leadership visibility doesn’t have to take hours out of the week. With clear structure, the right support, and a simple content strategy, it can fit naturally into how they already communicate, motivate, and lead.
As Ash explains, it’s not really about time — it’s about confidence and rhythm.
3. “They aren’t social media people.”
While younger employees are quick to jump in, Ash explains that many senior leaders didn’t grow up with social media. For them, posting online can feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. He sees this as a generational challenge, not a personal flaw.
Thankfully, It’s a skill like any other, one that can be learned and developed with coaching, encouragement, and the right mindset.
4. “What if people criticize what they post?”
Another common worry is the risk of negative feedback. Noone wants to get trolled.
But the reality is that whilst it happens on all social media platforms, LinkedIn is actually one of the better ones. Haters gonna hate. But they tend to be less noisy and less hateful on LinkedIn!
Most interactions are supportive, professional, and positive, especially when content is authentic and well-intentioned.
5. “How personal should they get?”
Many leaders overthink where to draw the line between professional and personal.
As mentioned already above, Ash’s advice is that you don’t need to create a “LinkedIn version” of yourself. Just bring the offline leader online.
Authenticity doesn’t mean oversharing, it means showing up the same way you do in meetings, in leadership conversations, and in everyday interactions.
By addressing these barriers head-on, companies can create the right environment for leadership visibility to thrive, supporting leaders to build confidence, find their voice, and show up authentically online.
The companies getting this right don’t leave it to chance. They provide structure, support, and creative partnership to help leaders show up consistently. From message frameworks to done-with-you content creation, it’s about making it easy and sustainable.
LinkedIn posting mistakes thought leaders should avoid
If you’re posting on LinkedIn but not seeing the results you were hoping for, you might be falling into one of these common posting mistakes.
1. Posting without a clear point of view
Be known for something, not everything. Thought leaders who post about too many things confuse their audience. As Ash explains, spreading yourself too thin makes your message inconsistent and forgettable.
The best leaders focus on a few strong themes that reflect their values, expertise, and audience interests.
2. Posting without a goal behind the content
Many leaders post without knowing why. They create content that doesn’t align with their business or personal goals, whether that’s attracting talent, increasing visibility, or shaping brand perception.
Set clear goals around reach, engagement, and content consumption so every post serves a purpose.
3. Posting inconsistently
Inconsistent posting and a lack of a plan makes it harder to grow your audience. Some chase quick hacks that inflate numbers but don’t build trust. As Ash explains, social influence opens doors, and people with consistent, credible visibility often get opportunities beyond their title or experience.
When leadership visibility is done right, it’s not about vanity metrics or personal fame, it’s about alignment, authenticity, and impact. It connects leaders, employees, and audiences in ways that traditional marketing never could.
To Wrap Up
Leadership visibility isn’t just a marketing trend, it’s fast becoming a business essential.
In the next few years, we’ll see more companies formally supporting their leaders to build a presence on LinkedIn, not as a vanity project, but as a strategic growth initiative.
Because when leaders show up authentically online:
- It builds trust with customers and employees
- It amplifies brand reach and reputation
- It drives measurable business results
When companies embrace that idea, they don’t just elevate their leadership team, they strengthen the entire business.
If you would like help from Content 10x to develop your personal brand online, or work with your leadership team, then you should check out our Expert Interview & Thought Leadership Service and don’t hesitate to book a call.
Thanks for reading. We hope you found this helpful, let us know on LinkedIn.
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