657 - The Authenticity Gap: Why Executives Who Copy Influencers Undermine Their Own Companies

Why do so many executives who build a following on LinkedIn end up hurting the exact business they're supposed to represent? In this episode, Jens Heitland breaks down a pattern he keeps seeing among senior leaders: copying the tone, structure, and topics of well-known influencers until an audience starts crediting them as the originator of ideas that were never theirs.

He gets into why that's not really the problem. The problem is what gets lost in the process: the connection between the content and the business the executive leads, and the connection between the content and who that person actually is outside the platform. He talks about why authenticity for a senior leader isn't a soft skill but a functional requirement, why every public post from a CEO reads as one signal with the company rather than two separate things, and a simple two-question test to run before anything goes out under your name.

There's also a case for why the goal was never to become an influencer in the first place, and what it actually means to build a social media presence that moves the business forward rather than just boosting engagement numbers.

If you're an executive trying to figure out what you should actually be posting, this one will feel familiar.

Highlights:

00:00 Copying Influencers Trap

00:08 LinkedIn Copycat Example

00:46 When Content Hurts Business

01:07 Build Authentic Presence

01:30 Executive Goals Not Fame

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