How We Get CEOs From ‘I Want a Personal Brand’ To Actually Doing It

If you’ve ever worked with a founder or exec who says: 

“I want to build my personal brand…” 

… but then ghosts your content team for weeks, this Q&A is for you.

I recently had a Q&A with Ivan Meakins from Klowt — personal branding agency — to talk about what actually moves busy CEOs from talking about personal branding to actually doing it. 

We got into fears, guardrails, AI, and how to keep execs from copy-pasting someone else’s vibe.

Let’s get into it!

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The mindset blocks CEOs need to overcome

Q: When a CEO says they want a personal brand, what are some of the hidden fears or limiting beliefs you’ve uncovered that tend to hold them back from taking real action?

And how do you help them move past those mental roadblocks?

A: A lot of people say they want a personal brand. 

They have seen other people on LinkedIn get a huge amount of success from it and have been told all over LinkedIn that "personal" is the new way to do business.

But when the time comes, many CEOs — especially those at bigger global companies — have trouble posting the kind of content that builds a personal brand. 

The real, raw, vulnerable storytelling, the behind-the-scenes look at the business and the realities running it — these are topics CEOs are not comfortable talking about and many are very worried about how what they say can impact their business. 

And it's fair enough to a certain level. 

They have stakeholders and board members who they need to please, and what they say can sometimes have a huge bearing on stock price or brand reputation — Elon Musk is a good example. 

Most revert to safe, on the fence style content that doesn't really do anything to build an audience. 

The best way to get them out of this is to dig deep and access things they really care about — that are authentic to them and tie back in some way to their business goals. 

The more a CEO sees how posting authentic personal content can tie back to supporting their business goals, the more encouraged they will be to give you the kind of content that works.

Help your CEO stay authentic (instead of copycatting)

Q: When a CEO sees a competing CEO doing something and they adopt that as their vision, even though it doesn't fit their brand. What do you do?

A: Ask them why they want to post it?

The main thing with all of this is reminding them constantly about their overall goals. 

WHY are they building a personal brand? 

I promise you it's not just for likes and comments. They believe in some way it can help them grow their business. 

So a good tip is to ask SO WHAT? 

If a post isn't moving the needle in the direction of a client's strategy, it doesn't get posted. This is how you build a properly authentic personal brand that serves a purpose.

Getting buy-in from reluctant or over-delegating CEOs

Q: When a CEO feels like they can just outsource every part of their personal brand building, without wanting to create time to share their experience and expertise, how do you get them to see why they should?

A: At the start of a project with a CEO, I take them through stories and examples of the best results we have generated for clients. 

I explain that to achieve similar or better results, certain things are mandatory in this relationship:

1) They show up to calls on time 

2) They are present at these sessions and give us specific stories and examples on their chosen topics. 

3) They communicate regularly with new ideas, videos, photos etc to use in the content. 

These are just a few, but I make it clear that if these rules aren't followed, they will not unlock the full value of this experience. 

Just like working with a personal trainer; if you don't follow their plan you cannot expect to see significant results. 

That is what you are paying them for! By not following rules, you are wasting time and money.

Guardrails for conservative or regulated execs

Q: How do you help founders/execs in highly regulated or traditionally conservative industries build a personal brand without triggering legal, reputational, or cultural backlash? What frameworks or boundaries have proven effective?

A: Great question. Everyone has a level they are prepared to go to with their personal brand. 

Some people are very controversial and happy to be that person; others are careful and don't want to risk upsetting the board. 

At the start of the project, I usually create a list of no-go areas; topics and things that we cannot comment on either way. 

There are usually a few things on here, but I've found that overall, most topics are ok to talk about authentically.

Again, we are not in the business of rage-baiting or writing stuff just to get a reaction. 

We create content that challenges, educates, or entertains.

Once you understand who your client is and the things that are off limits, it's not hard to craft authentic content that isn't problematic.

The role of AI in CEO personal branding

Q: Looking ahead, how do you think AI-generated content or deepfakes could challenge or transform the way CEOs build trust through their personal brands?

What should leaders start doing now to stay ahead of that curve?

A: AI generated content is everywhere already, and many Personal Brands are using AI avatars to deliver videos, etc. 

The one thing to say about this is, you need an AI strategy and someone who knows how to train AI on a lot of data, so it knows: 

• what “good” looks like, 
• what a good strategy looks like, and 
• what your content sounds like 

… then ONLY use AI to guide you and do the heavy lifting. 

Always polish with a human touch to add your personality in there. 

I operate with AI in a 70/30 ratio. 

I always give AI the raw idea and core concepts, AI then does 70% of the heavy lifting getting a first draft and together. 

Then I will spend 30% of the time polishing and refining.

Avoid oversharing, reasonable vulnerability is ok

Q: Anything else you'd like to add?

A: You can build a successful brand without being overly personal. 

Too often people on LinkedIn share overly personal stuff because they think that's what people want. 

And to a certain degree it does get engagement, but most people have no idea why they are posting this stuff. 

Beyond that, build a strategy first, understand what you want from this and then craft content to support you.

Author’s wrap-up

What stood out to me most in this conversation with Ivan is how deliberate strong personal branding has to be. 

The best results come from a combination of CEO buy-in, clear strategic boundaries, and content that’s authentic and purposeful, not just whatever’s trending.

If you want to work with your execs to build personal brands that actually drive results, it starts with asking better questions, and building a system that pulls their real stories forward.