Latest / Executive Careers with Fexingo: VP, C-Suite, and Senior Leadership Career Strategy / How Senior Leaders Use LinkedIn Without Sounding Desperate
Transcript
- Lucas: There's a scene I think about a lot. A senior VP at a mid-cap industrial company — let's call her Sarah — gets a notification. Someone from a top-tier search firm has viewed her LinkedIn profile. Her first instinct is to immediately post something, anything, to look active. That's the exact moment most executives lose the game. Luna: Because it reeks of desperation, right? Like you're trying to signal availability. Lucas: Exactly. And the irony is that the search consultant probably clicked on her profile because of something she posted three weeks ago. The impulse to react in real-time undermines the very credibility that got you noticed in the first place. So today I want to talk about how senior leaders use LinkedIn without sounding desperate — because the platform is polarizing at this level. Luna: I know plenty of executives who refuse to post at all. They see it as beneath them or too 'influencer-y.' Is that the right call? Lucas: It's a defensible position, but increasingly a costly one. Let me give you a concrete case. I talked to the chief operating officer of a Fortune 500 logistics firm — a woman who had zero LinkedIn presence until early 2025. She was retiring in two years, not looking for a job. But she wanted to shape how her legacy was perceived. She started posting exactly once a week — a short paragraph about an operational decision she'd made, with a specific number. 'We cut warehouse turnaround time by 14 percent by changing one scheduling rule.' That's it. Luna: No motivational quotes. No '10 lessons from 30 years in logistics.' I love that. It's evidence-based. Lucas: And within four months, her inbound recruiter outreach went up 40 percent. Not because she was job hunting — but because search firms place executives with operating track records. The posts served as verifiable proof of her judgment. She wasn't selling herself. She was documenting her work. Luna: So the content itself is the strategy. But what about the cadence? A lot of senior leaders I know are terrified of posting too much or too little. Lucas: The '3-1-1' rhythm works well. Three posts amplifying other people's work — a share of a colleague's article with a one-sentence endorsement, a congratulations to a direct report on a promotion, a retweet of an industry report with 'useful context here.' Then one post that shares a personal insight — not a life story, but something like 'I used to think distributed teams couldn't match centralized speed. A recent project changed my mind.' And then one post that provides a directly useful link — a template, a framework, a white paper your team produced. Luna: That's five posts per week? That's a lot for someone running a division. Lucas: It's five posts, but four of them take under two minutes. The one insight post might take ten. The key is that the amplification posts — the 3 — build social capital. They make you look generous and plugged in without requiring original thought every time. And they trigger the algorithm to show your one insight post to more people. Luna: So the algorithm rewards generosity. That's actually a nice alignment. Lucas: It is. But there's a trap I see over and over. Senior leaders start posting, get a little engagement, and then they start commenting on every industry trend. They become a pundit. That's the fastest way to sound desperate — because you start to sound like you have time to be a pundit. Luna: Right. The signal you want to send is 'I'm too busy running things to post often, but when I do, it's worth reading.' That's authority. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why the COO I mentioned only posted once a week. She never broke that rhythm. She never responded to comments with long threads. She'd like a comment or write 'thanks, glad it resonated.' That's it. The scarcity of her voice made each post more valuable. Luna: And I assume she also optimized her profile itself. The headline, the 'about' section — those are often afterthoughts. Lucas: Huge point. Most executives write their headline as 'Chief Operating Officer at XYZ Corp.' That's a job title, not a value proposition. A better headline is something like 'Helping logistics companies cut costs and carbon — COO at XYZ Corp.' It tells a search consultant what you can do for them, not just where you sit. Luna: And the 'about' section — I see so many that are just a rehash of the resume. If I'm a board member considering you, I want to know how you think, not just what you've done. Lucas: Yeah, the best 'about' sections I've seen are 150 words that answer one question: 'What problem do I solve better than almost anyone?' It's not a biography. It's a positioning statement. And it should include a specific number. 'I've led three operational turnarounds that moved margins from negative to double-digit in under 18 months.' Luna: I want to push back on something though. There's a camp that says senior leaders shouldn't be on LinkedIn at all — that it's a distraction and that real networking happens in private dinners and phone calls. Lucas: It's a valid point, and for some roles — especially if you're a sitting CEO of a public company — a low profile is strategic. But for the VP and SVP level, especially those considering board seats or a next role, a minimal but intentional presence is an asset. The head of a major executive search firm told me that 80 percent of their initial candidate identification now starts with a LinkedIn profile review. Not a phone call. Not a reference. A profile. Luna: That's a statistic that should make any senior leader rethink being invisible. Lucas: Agreed. But it's not just about being visible — it's about being visible in the right way. I've seen executives with 500 connections and a barren profile get overlooked, while someone with 200 connections but a sharp headline and three great posts gets the call. Quality over quantity. Luna: Let me ask you about the dark side. What about the executive who posts something that backfires — a controversial opinion, a poorly worded take on a sensitive topic? Lucas: It happens. And the recovery is straightforward: don't delete it unless it's factually wrong. If you delete it, you look like you're hiding. Instead, post a follow-up that says 'I've been thinking more about this and want to clarify my perspective.' That actually builds trust. It shows intellectual humility. Luna: So the platform is a tool, not a trap. But it does require intentionality. Lucas: Speaking of tools that require intentionality — you know, we put a lot of thought into this show, and we keep it ad-free because we believe the advice should stand on its own. If you've found episodes like this useful for your own career thinking, and you want to help us keep the lights on, you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure — just a way for listeners who get value to give a little back. Luna: Yeah, we appreciate everyone who listens. And it's a small way to keep this resource available to anyone who needs it. Lucas: Back to the strategy. One more thing I want to highlight: the recommendation section. Most executives ignore it, but it's one of the most powerful trust signals on the platform. A recommendation from a former direct report or a board member carries more weight than anything you write about yourself. Luna: And you can ask for them without being awkward. If you've just completed a major project or transition, that's the perfect time to ask two or three people to write a recommendation. It's fresh. Lucas: Exactly. So the takeaway I'd leave listeners with is this: LinkedIn at the senior level is not about broadcasting. It's about curating evidence of your judgment. One post a week, one smart headline, three recommendations, and a generous amplification rhythm. That's it. That's the playbook. Luna: I think the hardest part is the discipline. It's so easy to post when you're feeling good and go silent when you're busy. But the algorithm and the recruiters notice consistency. Lucas: They do. And the good news is that consistency at the executive level doesn't mean daily. It means predictable. If you post every Tuesday at 8 AM, people start to expect it. That's a reputation in itself. Luna: Alright, I'm going to update my headline before the end of the week. Thanks Lucas. Lucas: Glad to hear it. And for everyone else — start small. Pick one post this week that shares a number from your work. See what happens.