There is a lot of conversation about personal brand these days, particularly for senior leaders. How visible should you be? What should you post? How polished should your LinkedIn profile look? Should you be building a following? Should a CEO even be thinking about personal brand?
I think we have a tendency to make it far more complicated than it needs to be.
Your personal brand already exists. It is the impression people form when they meet you, hear you speak, read something you've written, see you in a room or encounter you online. It is built through hundreds of small signals that tell people something about who you are, what you stand for and what it might be like to work with you.
Photography is one of those signals, and quite often it is one of the first.
People are forming an impression before they meet you
I've spent more than 20 years photographing people professionally, and one thing has remained constant throughout that time. People form impressions incredibly quickly.
We all do it. Before somebody has read your full biography, watched your interview or heard you speak, they have already started forming an impression. Your photograph, clothing, expression, posture, environment and the way you present yourself all contribute to it.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing. We use these signals constantly to navigate the world around us, deciding where we feel confidence, connection, familiarity and trust.
The interesting question for me as a photographer is this: does the impression your photography creates match the person someone is going to meet?
For senior leaders, I think that matters enormously.
Personal brand isn't something you put on
One of the things I see frequently is an assumption that looking professional means conforming to a particular formula.
There is still an idea of what an executive is supposed to look like. Certain clothes, certain poses, certain expressions and a particular level of formality. None of those things are inherently wrong, but following the formula doesn't automatically communicate leadership, credibility or authority.
I've photographed CEOs, board directors, founders and senior executives with completely different personalities and leadership styles. Some have enormous energy. Some are quieter and incredibly considered. Some lead with warmth, others with intellectual authority. Some walk into a room and immediately command it, while others have a presence that becomes more apparent the longer you spend with them.
Why would I want to make all of those people look the same?
The objective isn't to make someone look like a CEO. It is to photograph the CEO who is actually standing in front of me.
Congruence is far more interesting than perfection
This is where personal brand becomes particularly interesting to me.
If somebody is known for being warm, open and approachable, yet every photograph of them feels distant and intimidating, there is a disconnect. If someone has built their reputation around innovation and challenging convention but their visual presence feels completely generic, that is communicating something too.
The strongest personal brands have a sense of congruence. The person you see, the person you hear and the person you eventually meet feel connected.
That doesn't mean showing every part of yourself publicly. Senior leaders in particular need judgement around what they share and where they share it. Personal brand isn't the same thing as personal exposure.
It simply means the signals you're putting into the world aren't fighting against the reputation you're trying to build.
Clothing is communication too
I've always been fascinated by clothing and the role it plays in how we communicate. What we wear can signal confidence, creativity, authority, individuality, belonging and even our willingness to challenge convention.
It is one of the reasons I don't believe there is a universal answer to the question, "What should I wear for my executive photographs?"
The better question is, "What feels like me, at the level I'm operating at now?"
There is an important difference.
The right clothing should support the person rather than become the story. Sometimes that means a beautifully tailored suit. Sometimes it absolutely doesn't. What matters is that there is intention behind the choice and that the person feels comfortable enough in it to stop thinking about what they're wearing.
Because when someone feels like themselves, I can see it.
Consistency doesn't mean becoming predictable
Consistency has always been important in personal branding, but I think the word is sometimes misunderstood.
It doesn't mean using the same photograph everywhere for the next ten years. It doesn't mean always wearing the same colour, having the same expression or presenting exactly the same version of yourself in every professional situation.
Consistency is much more about recognition.
If I encounter you on LinkedIn, hear you speak at a conference, read an interview with you and eventually meet you in person, does it all make sense?
Do I recognise the same values, energy and presence?
The context may change, but the person shouldn't feel completely different.
That's consistency.
Your personal brand should evolve because you do
This is particularly relevant for senior leaders because careers change.
You take on a bigger role. You join a board. You become CEO. You leave corporate life and build something of your own. You become more visible in your industry. You begin speaking publicly, contributing to conversations you care about or representing an organisation on a much bigger stage.
You change through those experiences too.
Yet sometimes the photograph representing you was taken several versions of your career ago.
I find that fascinating. We accept that our biography, responsibilities, expertise and leadership will evolve, but somehow we expect one photograph to represent us indefinitely.
There comes a point when your visual presence needs to catch up with who you've become.
Not because you've aged. Not because a photograph has suddenly become unfashionable. But because the person in that photograph may no longer adequately represent the professional you are today.
Personal brand isn't vanity
I think this is one of the most important distinctions for senior leaders.
Thinking about how you are represented isn't vanity. Your image may sit alongside a company announcement, investor communication, media interview, board biography, conference programme, industry commentary or leadership profile. Often your photograph will introduce you to people long before you have the opportunity to do it yourself.
That makes your visual presence part of your professional communication.
Of course, I want somebody to look at their photographs and feel good about themselves. That's important.
But I'm also thinking about different questions. Does this person feel credible? Does the photograph feel current? Does it support the role they hold? Is the authority there? Is the warmth there? Does their personality have enough room to come through?
Most importantly, does it actually feel like them?
You don't need to become an influencer
Visibility has become so closely connected with personal branding that I think some senior leaders understandably recoil from the whole conversation.
Building a personal brand doesn't mean documenting your breakfast, sharing every opinion you have or turning your life into content.
You don't need to become an influencer.
But if you occupy a visible leadership position, people are already encountering you online. Employees look you up. Potential employees look you up. Clients, investors, journalists, conference organisers and other leaders look you up.
The absence of thought around personal brand doesn't mean you don't have one.
It simply means you're leaving more of it to chance.
You don't need to create a personal brand
If I could change one thing about the way I talked about personal branding years ago, it would be this.
Stop trying to create one.
Start paying attention to the one you already have.
What are people experiencing when they meet you? What do colleagues trust you for? How do you communicate? What do you want to be known for? How has your leadership changed? What feels unmistakably like you?
Then look at the way you're represented online and ask whether those two things still align.
I wrote recently about the changing CEO profile in the age of AI and asked a question I've become increasingly interested in: not simply what should this CEO look like?, but what does their leadership look like?
Perhaps there is another question sitting alongside it.
Does the person we see online feel like the person we're going to meet?
After more than 20 years behind the camera, that's increasingly what interests me.
The best personal brand photography doesn't create the story. It makes the story that is already there easier for other people to see.