The Executive Influence Playbook for Series B–C Leaders
You’ve scaled your business from an idea to a thriving Series B or C company. You have product-market fit, a strong team, and a clear vision for the future. But as you navigate this critical growth stage, a new challenge emerges: your personal influence—or lack thereof—is becoming a bottleneck. The market needs to see you not just as an operator, but as the leading voice of your category. Investors need to feel confident in your vision, top talent needs a compelling reason to join your mission, and enterprise customers need to trust the leader behind the brand.
Building executive influence isn't about chasing vanity metrics or becoming a full-time content creator. It's a strategic function that, when executed correctly, opens doors, de-risks your growth trajectory, and builds a moat of authority around your brand. Yet, for most founders and C-suite leaders, it feels like a distraction from the core job of running the business.
This playbook provides a focused, low-lift system for building authority that supports your next round of growth. It’s a practical framework for translating your unique expertise into measurable market presence without pulling you away from what you do best. We will cover how to define your narrative, activate it across key channels, and measure what matters, all within a manageable 90-day sprint.
The Foundation: Message, Not Just Media
Before you speak, you need to know what you want to say. Influence isn’t built on scattered thoughts or random podcast appearances. It’s built on a clear, compelling, and consistent narrative. This is your core story—the intellectual property that only you can own.
Start by defining your three pillars of influence:
Your Unique Point of View (POV): What is the one core belief you hold about your industry, customer, or the future that is different from the consensus? This isn't your company’s mission statement. It’s your sharp, sometimes controversial, take on where the world is going and why.
Your Core Themes: Underneath your main POV, what are the 2-3 supporting topics you can speak on with authority? These should be specific enough to demonstrate expertise but broad enough to sustain content and conversations. Examples might include "the ethics of AI in fintech," "building high-trust remote teams," or "the shift from ownership to access in consumer goods."
Your Signature Story: What is the personal anecdote or origin story that makes your POV relatable and human? People connect with stories, not data points. This could be the moment you realized your industry was broken, a lesson from a past failure, or the customer conversation that changed everything.
This messaging framework becomes your compass. Every article you write, every podcast you join, and every social post you share should reinforce these core pillars.
The Channels: Where to Focus Your Energy
You cannot be everywhere at once. The key is to choose channels that offer the highest leverage for your specific goals and audience. For a Series B–C leader, the focus should be on authority-building platforms, not just broad awareness plays.
Earned Media (PR)
This is about getting your voice and POV validated by credible, third-party publications. Forget spray-and-pray press releases. Focus on targeted, high-impact commentary.
Strategy: Position yourself as an expert source for journalists covering your core themes. Offer data-driven insights or a contrarian take on trending news. Aim for quality placements in top-tier trade publications or business outlets your stakeholders read.
Action: Build a target list of 10-15 journalists. Engage with their work thoughtfully on social media before you ever pitch them.
Owned Content
This is the content you create and publish on your own platforms, like the company blog or your personal LinkedIn newsletter. It’s your home base for your narrative.
Strategy: Publish one definitive “pillar” article per month that explores one of your core themes in depth. This becomes an evergreen asset you can reference and repurpose.
Action: Take the transcript from a recent internal all-hands or a sales call where you explained your vision. There is likely a 1,500-word blog post hiding in that recording.
Social Platforms (LinkedIn)
For most B2B leaders, LinkedIn is the only social platform that matters. It’s a powerful tool for narrative distribution, networking, and talent acquisition.
Strategy: Your goal is not to go viral. It's to consistently engage the right people. Share your owned content, comment thoughtfully on the posts of your peers and target customers, and re-share interesting articles with your unique POV as added context.
Action: Block 15 minutes on your calendar three times a week for LinkedIn. Use it to share one piece of content or write two meaningful comments. That’s it.
Events & Speaking
The stage is the ultimate authority-builder. It puts you directly in front of a curated audience of potential customers, partners, and investors.
Strategy: Be selective. Instead of big, impersonal keynotes, target niche industry conferences, private dinners, or partner webinars where you can have a real conversation.
Action: Identify five "dream" stages for next year. Find out who runs them and start building a relationship.
Your 90-Day Influence Roadmap
This is where the framework becomes a plan. Here is a week-by-week sprint to build momentum without burning out.
Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1–4)
Week 1: Narrative & Messaging Workshop. Block three hours with your leadership team or a trusted advisor. Finalize your core POV, themes, and signature story. Write it down.
Week 2: Platform Audit & Optimization. Update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your new narrative. Ensure your bio, headshot, and "Featured" section are aligned.
Week 3: Publish Pillar Post #1. Write and publish your first long-form article on the company blog. This piece should be a definitive statement on one of your core themes.
Week 4: Identify Media & Event Targets. Build your "dream list" of 10 journalists and 5 events. Begin gentle, non-transactional engagement on LinkedIn.
Phase 2: Activation (Weeks 5–8)
Week 5: Launch LinkedIn Cadence. Start your rhythm of posting and commenting 2-3 times per week. Share your pillar post and related insights.
Week 6: Secure First Media Commentary. Work with your comms lead or partner to land your first expert quote in a relevant trade publication.
Week 7: Publish Pillar Post #2. Your second deep-dive article goes live. Notice how it’s easier and faster to write now that your narrative is clear.
Week 8: Host a Small, Curated Event. This could be a virtual roundtable with 10 of your best customers or a private dinner with fellow founders. The goal is connection, not scale.
Phase 3: Amplification & Measurement (Weeks 9–12)
Week 9: Appear on a Podcast. Leverage your growing authority to guest on a respected industry podcast. Use your core themes as your talking points.
Week 10: Repurpose & Amplify. Turn your pillar posts and podcast appearance into short video clips, quote graphics, and LinkedIn carousels. Maximize the value of every asset.
Week 11: Publish Pillar Post #3. Your final piece of the 90-day sprint, solidifying your position as a thought leader on this topic.
Week 12: Review & Plan. Analyze your results. What resonated? What drove meaningful conversations? Use this data to plan your next 90-day sprint.
Measuring What Matters: Influence KPIs
How do you know if this is working? You need a mix of leading and lagging indicators.
Leading Indicators (Activity & Engagement):
Number of meaningful LinkedIn comments per week.
Number of owned content pieces published.
Number of media pitches sent.
Lagging Indicators (Impact & Outcomes):
Inbound Interest: Are you getting unsolicited invitations to speak, join podcasts, or meet with investors? This is the clearest sign your influence is growing.
Deal Influence: Are sales reps mentioning your articles or podcast appearances in their conversations? Are prospects coming to demos already familiar with your POV?
Talent Pipeline: Are top candidates citing your thought leadership as a reason they want to join the company?
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
The Authenticity Trap: Don’t try to adopt a persona you think the market wants. Your greatest asset is your genuine expertise and voice. The goal is to be a sharper, more focused version of yourself.
The Delegation Mistake: You can delegate the logistics (social media scheduling, media pitching), but you cannot delegate the thinking. The core POV must come from you. Ghostwriters can polish, but they can't originate.
The Quest for Virality: Stop chasing huge like counts. Your goal is to influence the 500 people who can actually change your business, not 5 million people who will never be your customers.
Building executive influence is a marathon, not a sprint. But by implementing this focused, 90-day playbook, you can lay a powerful foundation that pays dividends for years to come—driving growth, attracting talent, and cementing your legacy as a leader in your field.
Ready to build a strategic plan for your own executive influence?