Your leadership signature matters – Fast Company

We’re living through a seismic workforce disruption. Business leaders are poised to have a significant impact on the way our economy is shaped over the next decade. You already see it with the big company CEOs creating a cult of celebrity far beyond anything we’ve seen historically, but this phenomenon cascades down to all leaders across companies. Today, however, your personal brand is built in authentic micro-moments—how you lead meetings, navigate change, and bring others along. What story are you telling?

Earlier this month, I sat down with Marissa Andrada and Al Dea at Guild’s Opportunity Summit to discuss why personal brand building is no longer optional for leaders who want to drive meaningful impact.

DOES “PERSONAL BRAND” NEED A REBRAND?

The concept of a personal brand can sound like a marketing buzzword. But if you write it off as such, you’re going to fall behind.

We aren’t advocating for leaders to break out their tripods at a conference and do the latest Taylor Swift TikTok dance (but if that’s authentic to you, go for it).

Your personal brand—or “leadership signature” if you really want to avoid the “b” word—is built through micro-moments: the tone you bring to a meeting, the decisions you make, and how you develop and support people during times of transformation.

As Al put it, “Every stakeholder conversation is a chance to show people what you’re about.” That starts with understanding the beliefs and motivations that drive others.

“People can only see things from their seat,” he added. “If you want them to see things from yours, you first need to see things from theirs.”

ELEVATE YOUR WORK THROUGH STRATEGIC STORYTELLING

Personal brand can—and should—coexist with humility. For the introverts among us, this isn’t about self-promotion. It’s about translating your team’s impact into stories that resonate with the business.

Strategic storytelling connects people to purpose. It transforms complex initiatives into narratives that inspire action and resonate with the business.

As leaders, we can help our teams do this by focusing on what I call the three C’s: clarity, commitment, and consistency.

Clarity: Clear really is kind. Strip out jargon and acronyms. Ask yourself: Would the average employee understand what I’m trying to say? If not, simplify.

Commitment: Audiences can sense when you’re reciting a script versus speaking from conviction. Belief can’t be faked—and when leaders try, trust erodes fast.

Consistency: Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your leadership signature won’t be either. Words and action, over a sustained period of time, reinforce your stated values. The small, unseen moments—how you respond to challenges, how you show up when no one’s watching—create the foundation of your credibility.

2 SHIFTS TO BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND FOUNDATION

Mindfully consider your personal style and how you want your brand to show up. Gut-check that with others. Ask yourself: What do you want others to say about your leadership? Does that align with the feedback I receive? If not, where are there gaps and how can I work toward reconciling them?

Here are two shifts you can make today to create that foundation.

1) Ground in outcomes

Too often, leaders fall into the same traps we coach early-career workers to avoid on their resumes. Shift away from the activity, into the outcome.

Activity: “We led a large-scale software integration this quarter.”

Outcome: “We transformed how our company connects people strategy to business results.”

Leading with outcomes helps to contextualize the weight and the why behind your team’s work, building credibility with the listener.

2) Mind your language

On our San Diego panel, Marissa shared a story of her time at Universal Studios. Early on, she introduced herself to business leads with HR-speak: “I’m here to help develop a new performance management and talent planning process.”

She received clear, actionable feedback that the corporate jargon—what she jokingly called “corponics”—was not resonating. The very colleagues she was trying to rally did not know what she was saying.

Taking their feedback, she dropped the lingo, and recalibrated to human-first language.

Instead of “succession planning,” she said, “We’re growing fast. When you’re ready for your next role, how do you ensure someone’s ready to step into your seat?”

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP IN AN ERA OF ERODED TRUST

Personal brands can no longer be “crafted” in a conference room with a team of external consultants.

Today’s workforce is skeptical, discerning, and exhausted. Decades of information overload, polarization, and change have left employees craving authenticity and wary of anything that feels performative. People are drawn to leaders who reflect their stated values through daily interactions.

If you think your leadership brand only lives on LinkedIn, you’re tracking the wrong KPIs.

Do your public posts reflect the experiences your customers and teams are having privately? The leaders who will define the next decade are those whose public narratives match their private behaviors.

When leaders clarify their values, master storytelling, and lead with authenticity, they don’t just strengthen their own brands—they rebuild trust in business itself.

One example Marissa shared in San Diego, was her time as chief people officer at Chipotle and the experience of partnering with Guild to transform their employee tuition reimbursement program into an initiative that reinforced the company’s belief in people’s potential. The result? Measurable business outcomes. Chipotle saw stronger retention and greater internal mobility made possible by the new skills through education.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Building a personal brand isn’t about self-promotion. It’s about creating alignment between who you are, how you lead, and the impact you create.

By cultivating clarity of values, mastering the art of strategic storytelling, and leading with authenticity, today’s executives can build personal brands that elevate their voices and strengthen trust in their organizations. In doing so, leaders transform branding from an exercise in visibility into a discipline of influence anchored in purpose.

Rebecca Biestman is CMO of Guild.