How I Handle Founders’ Objections to Building Their Personal Brand on LinkedIn

“I don’t have time for LinkedIn.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I don’t want to be self-promotional.”

I’m sure you’ve probably heard one of these from founders, execs, or professionals as a PR/personal branding expert. 

Matter of fact, you’ve probably given that excuse yourself. I know, as a founder myself, I’ve said these same things before I started being active on LinkedIn. 

But whether or not you have excuses, no one can deny that building an executive personal brand on LinkedIn has so many benefits.

That’s why as a PR pro, it’s on you to help your founders move past their objections and start showing up. 

I recently did a Q&A with PR and personal branding expert Ronke Lawal, who helps leaders build their online presence. 

In this Q&A, she talked through 

• the real reasons founders and execs avoid LinkedIn, 
• how she gets high level execs to start showing up
• the invisible risks of staying invisible, and 
• how showing up consistently leads to trust, impact, and real business outcomes. 

If you’re a PR or personal branding consultant trying to convince your clients to take LinkedIn seriously, Ronke’s words will give you the language, stories, and clarity you’ve been looking for.

P.S. We’re capturing all our experts' insights via Leaps, the Expertise to Content platform. At Leaps, we believe in amplifying real human expertise and experience, and that’s what this content series is about. We’re sharing the experience and expertise of PR, brand, and marketing experts like Ronke.

Dealing with the “I don’t have time” objection

Q: You've likely heard dozens of versions of "I don't have time for LinkedIn" from founders/execs. 

Can you walk us through a specific case where that excuse masked a deeper fear or misunderstanding, and how you helped them reframe their thinking to finally show up?

A: I worked with a high-level C-suite executive who was always busy. I think that's something high-ranking professionals often say, and it's justifiable. They've got a lot of things to do, but they've also got slightly more resources than the average person.

So I asked them, “Why are you on LinkedIn? Aside from using it as an active resume?”

And what I found out is they were on LinkedIn to be like a virtual mentor. 

I told them: You're busy, but you're often getting requests and emails from people, and after events, they’re exhausting you after you speak. They want to know more about you. They want to know more insights, but you do not have the capacity to mentor them.

You're an inspiration, you're somebody who people admire, but you don't necessarily have the capacity to mentor every single person who aspires to be in your position or in your industry. And that clicked something.

I said, “You've got to start investing, whether it's in a virtual assistant or using the resources that you have, using scheduling tools to tap into the power of LinkedIn. Use it so you can become a virtual mentor to the people who aspire to enter your industry.”

You don't have to post every day, but consistently posting and amplifying key and core messages is actively going to inspire and encourage people to enter your industry. 

And potentially even disrupt your industry where you see there are flaws or tackle issues that they perhaps can't tackle on a day-to-day basis.

It was through having that conversation and making them understand that LinkedIn is a great platform for that and a great platform for connectivity and connection. That's how I got them to reframe their thinking and show up.

From thinking “self-promotion” to thinking real connection

Q: When a founder claims “I don’t want to come off as self-promotional,” how do you respond? 

If you have an example, can you share a moment where helping someone shift from self-promotion to storytelling created an unexpected impact, not just in visibility but in business outcomes?

A: It's so funny because a lot of people say they don't want to be self-promotional. 

I think what they really mean is they're seeing others in their industry or people who have made it, who've reached the heights of their heights, and they're not joining the dots and realizing that those people, a lot of the time, either had to use self-promotion in some way or eventually will have to use self-promotion in order to maintain their visibility.

I always ask personal branding clients who they admire. Not necessarily look up to, but who do they think is really cool in their industry or their sector, or in the wider world, whether it's political or business or entrepreneurial?

I show them that all of those people are using storytelling, relationship building, communications, and messaging to promote what they do.

Even though we use the terminology of self-promotion, nobody really likes that terminology because it comes across as really salesy. Nobody likes sales. Everybody likes subtlety. We don't want to appear to be forcing people or trying to look like we're desperate.

I think it's because of the association with self-promotion — that you're desperately seeking validation and approval. 

But if you flip it on its head and say, "Look, I'm telling a story and sharing my journey," suddenly there's a switch that goes off. Individuals will finally have that “aha moment.”

When you share your story, and when you're consistently showing up and being visible, it’s that visibility that converts. It does the very thing — the sales thing — the conversion of people who follow you and like you into people who spend money on you.

So if you release a book, or you've got an event, or whatever it is you're doing, they'll show up because they've connected with you. And then they want to hand over their money, ultimately.

This isn't manipulation at all, but it is about building that tribe and community around your personal brand. In order to do that, you've got to be visible, and you've got to build that connection with people.

Because people do buy from people. That's the old adage, but it's the truth. People buy from people.

Navigating your founders’ fear of scrutiny

Q: Some founders struggle with showing up on LinkedIn because they fear their online presence might invite scrutiny or criticism. 

How did you help them navigate that tension between transparency and vulnerability without jeopardizing trust or morale?

A: One thing I make sure to encourage my clients, whether they're entrepreneurs or C-suite leader professionals, middle management or senior management, is to compartmentalize.

I make sure that they understand the difference between sharing fully who they are and knowing their boundaries for themselves. You don't have to share everything. You've got to keep something for yourself.

Then I ask, “What’s your ultimate boundary? What's the limit for you in terms of sharing your personal private life on social media?”

Because once you've got that understanding, you can compartmentalize, and you can separate, as much as possible, your emotional connection to a platform.

I think sometimes when we pour too much of ourselves into a platform or into social media — or into anything, even in the real world — there is a heightened sensitivity.

So if you have that understanding, when you're sharing something boldly, and you know people are gonna critique you, scrutinize you, offer unsolicited advice, you can develop and build like an armor for yourself.

However, I think it's really important to lean into elements of vulnerability that will give people an opportunity to think. But obviously, not too much vulnerability where you re-traumatize or trigger yourself. But it's important to be honest because that vulnerability builds trust and maintains reputation.

Ultimately, you have to decide your limits. I'm really clear and direct with my clients, particularly my personal branding clients and any PR coaching clients, in terms of: be honest with yourself, and know when to take a step back.

Know why you're sharing what you're sharing. Know your purpose.

I think the more you know your purpose and your mission, and the why you're sharing what you're sharing, it makes it easier to navigate any tension between transparency and vulnerability, without necessarily jeopardizing trust or morale or making you stop.

Even if you get criticism, you can look at it, take it on board, and move on.

The long-term risks of staying invisible

Q: As someone who works on the front lines of personal brand strategy, what long-term risks do you believe founders are exposing themselves and their companies to by staying invisible on LinkedIn? 

And why do you think those risks are still so underestimated in boardrooms and branding conversations?

A: I think the biggest risk is trust…lack of trust.

We've got to future-proof our brands, our business models. And the biggest risk to remaining invisible on social media, on LinkedIn specifically, is a lack of trust capital. A lack of trust, reputation, brand value, and social capital.

So that when a crisis hits, or when something unusual happens in your industry, you are the go-to leader. Your organization is the one people can say, “Ah, we understand, we believe them.”

If something goes wrong and people look towards the media, your audience — your customers, your clients — are looking for brand ambassadors. 

If they can't find anyone, they can’t say for sure, “Oh, well, they’ve flopped this time,” or “They’ve done something wrong this time.” 

They’ll say, whether it's a CEO, director, CMO, CFO, or head of department, “I follow this person, and their brand values are usually this way. They're usually consistent in this way. So I believe this was ill-thought-out or a mistake, and we can forgive them.”

Also, from a holistic and social level, particularly when it comes to diversity and inclusion, and underrepresented and marginalized groups, if we don't have visible, real voices who represent the marginalized and don’t allow them space to show up on a platform like LinkedIn, how are we going to attract new vibrant talent that goes against the grain, breaks the mold, and breaks the status quo?

There’s a multitude of risks associated with remaining invisible online. But going back to the start of my point and my message: without being actively visible on key platforms like LinkedIn, you're not building relationships, and you're not maintaining trust.

Playing the long game on LinkedIn

Q: Founders often associate LinkedIn with thought leadership, but few recognize its potential for building long-term relational equity with future hires, partners, or even acquirers.

How would you advise PR pros to help their founders understand the compounding value of showing up consistently, even when there’s no immediate ROI, and what have you seen happen when one finally plays the long game? Could you share a specific example where this long-term visibility paid off in an unexpected way?

A: I think it's really important to show relevant and real-world case studies. It's really powerful when people show up  vibrantly and consistently on LinkedIn, particularly in industries where people don't expect anyone to show up. 

I have a great example of a leading law professional, a barrister, who I've been following over the years. I've run personal branding workshops for their organization. They've transferred organizations, and they themselves have just taken it upon themselves to be active and actively engaged on LinkedIn.

They’ve built a following on LinkedIn — a following that not only attracts eyeballs to their charitable initiatives, but also disrupts. 

They engage in conversations around what's happening in the law sector, looking at diversity and inclusion, encouraging conversation, and thought-provoking ideas around some of the challenges that are faced by marginalized groups within the law profession. There are so many factors that this individual has brought to the forefront by showing up.

It has attracted more donations to their charitable initiatives. But also attention to key issues. It's got the potential to attract media coverage and be disruptive in that space.

When you're talking about using LinkedIn in the long term, it's also a great way of maintaining visibility so that media outlets and journalists see that you’re part of the ongoing conversation. So you're remembered when things happen in your industry, as opposed to being forgotten.

And that ties really nicely into the power of PR.

This is why PR pros need to continue to help their founders understand the value of showing up consistently. And it is a long game, but it's worth it in the end.

Showing up on LinkedIn matters

What I loved about this conversation is how grounded Ronke’s advice is. As a PR lead or personal branding leader, addressing your founders' hesitations to showing up on LinkedIn is really about showing them the big picture and reframing how they’re thinking about LinkedIn.

It’s not just about getting more likes or shares, but about earning trust, becoming the go-to in their industry, inspiring others along the way, and getting their visibility to convert to actual impact – whether that’s revenue, media coverage, etc.

Related:

— The One Type Of LinkedIn Ghostwriter To Hire

— How to Make Founder Thought Leadership Memorable (Expert Q&A)