Executive influence: Where visibility and credibility meet.
- Laure Golly
- Oct 9
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Are you credible, visible, or both? Over time, I have had countless conversations with talented leaders who are not getting the recognition they deserve.
They are struggling to build visibility where it matters, sustain influence without burning out, or simply know where to start.
Your reputation builds executive influence.
It bothered me, because when strategically positioned, your reputation builds executive influence: the kind that makes you the first call when opportunities arise. Board positions, speaking invitations, strategic partnerships, new clients.
Executive influence comes from being both credible and visible. But it all starts by knowing where you stand.
The visibility and credibility matrix.
Most leaders fall into one of four positions:
Trusted Insider: Strong credibility, limited visibility outside your immediate network. You deliver strong results and have deep credibility, but your reputation is not working as hard as it could.
Growing Voice: Building both visibility and credibility, establishing the foundation for greater industry influence. You have started gaining recognition, but it is inconsistent. Some opportunities come to you, but you are still doing significant outreach.
Rising Expert: Growing visibility and strong credibility. Recognition is expanding, but you are not yet the first call when opportunities arise. The gap between "recognised" and "go-to expert" is smaller than you think but highly strategic.
Industry Leader: High visibility and high credibility. You are top of mind when opportunities arise in your field. Your reputation is strong, but maintaining this position requires different strategies than building it did.
Why executive influence matters.
Each position requires a different strategy to build or scale executive influence.
If you are a Trusted Insider, you need visibility through speaking, writing, strategic positioning. Building more expertise will not help if no one knows about it.
If you are an Emerging Voice, you need to strengthen both by building credibility through results whilst intentionally increasing your visibility.
If you are a Rising Expert, you need strategic positioning moves that close the gap to become impossible to overlook when it matters most.
If you are an Industry Leader, you need to maintain and leverage what you have built being selective about opportunities and maximising your impact whilst protecting your reputation.
The assessment that reveals where you stand.
We created a short assessment to show where you stand, what is holding you back, and what to focus on next, no matter what stage you are at.
Ten questions. Three minutes. No email required. You will instantly discover your profile.
It is a starting point to self-reflect on critical questions. If you want to go deeper, you can request your full profile with strategic focus areas and concrete next steps.
Strategic positioning builds lasting influence.
When you know where you stand, you can make deliberate choices about where to invest your energy to build executive influence.
You stop guessing. You stop doing visibility work that does not match your credibility level. You stop building expertise in isolation.
You build strategically, matching your efforts to your position and your goals. That is how executive influence develops: intentionally, not accidentally.
Where does your reputation stand? Discover your profile and find out what to focus on next.
