You Built the Machine — Why Are You Still Turning the Gears?

Here's what happens to CEOs who've been in a role for a few years: the board seat conversation happens at a dinner they're not invited to. Not because they're not qualified - they've scaled businesses through significant transformation. But when their name comes up, someone says, "Aren't they more operational?" and that ends the discussion.

Then comes the turnaround inquiry. High-profile, well-paid, and completely wrong. You're not a turnaround specialist - you build things. But that's not how the market sees you.

If this sounds familiar, here's what's actually happening: what you want has evolved, but how you're known - publicly and by your own board - hasn't kept up. That gap is costing you opportunities you don't even know you're missing.

What You're Known For Versus Where You're Headed

You've scaled the business, reshaped culture, repositioned for growth. You're making decisions that affect hundreds of people and millions in revenue. You've evolved considerably from where you started.

But your public positioning might still describe you in ways that don't match where you're headed. Your LinkedIn might emphasise expertise you've moved beyond. The work you're known for publicly might not represent the work you want to do in future.

And here's what's equally important: your board and team might still see you through that same outdated lens. If you've always been the person who jumps into operational details, they'll keep pulling you there - even when they shouldn't. If you've always been known for fixing problems, they'll keep bringing you problems to fix - even when your role should be about something else entirely.

How you communicate shapes what opportunities come your way and what work lands on your desk.

When your public profile emphasises one type of expertise, that's what you'll be offered. When your board sees you primarily as an operator, they'll keep you in operational conversations even when you should be focused elsewhere. When potential partners or investors look you up and find positioning that doesn't match your direction, you won't even be considered.

You've built genuine capability. But if how you're described doesn't match where you're going, you'll keep getting approached for the wrong things.

Why Your Positioning Always Lags Behind

Your role evolves faster than your positioning updates. You're making decisions about market expansion, but publicly you might still be described using frameworks from three years ago. You're being recruited for roles that no longer interest you because your LinkedIn, your speaking topics, your public presence still signals your previous focus.

Your board keeps asking you to handle situations your COO should manage because you've always handled them. Your team escalates decisions you've trained them to make because that's the pattern you established. They're not being difficult - they're responding to the positioning you've shown them.

After 25+ years working with L'Oréal, Colgate, Volkswagen, and Ryanair, here's what I've learned about repositioning: it's not about hiding previous expertise. It's about making clear choices about which aspects of your experience you want to emphasise going forward.

A CEO I worked with had taken a business through significant product transformation while growing 20% year-on-year - remarkable given simultaneous board uncertainty and team development challenges.

He needed to reposition for what came next. Not because his previous work wasn't valuable, but because he wanted future opportunities to reflect where he was going, not where he'd been. And he needed his board to stop pulling him into operational decisions his team should handle.

The shift wasn't about working harder. It was about making deliberate choices about which capabilities to emphasise, and communicating differently so his board and team would engage with him at the right level.

When Positioning Does the Work For You

Your less-qualified competitor understands something you might not: when you show up already known for the right things, everything moves faster. The investor has already read your perspective. The board member already understands which decisions belong to you versus your team. Your name gets mentioned for the right reasons in conversations you're not part of.

Meanwhile, you're doing brilliant work nobody outside your immediate network can see. Your board keeps pulling you into details because that's what they know you're good at, even though you've built a team to handle those details.

Make Different Choices About What You're Known For

This isn't about posting more content or having more meetings. You're already stretched thin.

This is about making deliberate choices about what you're known for.

That conference you're attending? The conversations you have should reflect where you're headed, not what you used to do. That major client win? How you talk about it should position you for future opportunities, not past ones.

That board meeting? How you communicate your focus areas shapes whether they keep pulling you into operations or start engaging with you on strategy. That team meeting? How you position your role determines whether they keep escalating decisions or start taking ownership.

The perspective you've developed from scaling businesses should reach potential investors, board members, and strategic partners before you meet them. Not because you need to be famous, but because it's more efficient if they already understand what you're focused on now.

What You've Built Deserves Better Positioning

If you want opportunities that match where you've evolved to, how you describe yourself needs to reflect that evolution.

Otherwise, you're being assessed on outdated information. Your board is engaging with you based on patterns you established years ago, even though your role has changed. Your team is escalating to you based on historical precedent, not current reality. And the market is forming judgments about what you're good at based on what you were known for three years ago.

Your expertise is already built. You've done the hard work of developing genuine capability, navigating complexity, delivering results that matter. What's missing isn't more skill. What's missing is repositioning how you're described so it matches where you're going.

After working with global brands and now with executives whose expertise has evolved, here's what I know: getting the right opportunities isn't about being the most capable. It's about making clear choices about what you want to be known for - so when opportunities arise, your name surfaces for the right reasons.

You've built something remarkable, often while dealing with board chaos and team limitations that would have stopped most people. What comes next shouldn't require fighting against outdated positioning. It should start with people - including your own board and team - already understanding where you're focused now.

About Elaine Walsh-McGrath

Elaine Walsh-McGrath is an Executive Positioning Strategist and Visibility Expert who helps CEOs, MDs, NEDs, and senior consultants close the gap between the authority they've built and the recognition they deserve.

After 25+ years in media strategy with L'Oréal, Colgate, Volkswagen, and Ryanair, Elaine now works with executives whose expertise has evolved beyond how they're currently positioned.

Through her Executive Visibility Framework, she helps senior leaders reposition for their next role - so when opportunities arise, their name comes up for the right reasons.

Work with Elaine

If you're a CEO whose expertise has evolved beyond your current positioning - both in how the market sees you and how your board and team engage with you - let's talk about closing that gap.

I help senior executives make clear choices about what they want to be known for, so when opportunities arise, their name comes up for the right reasons.

Connect with Elaine on LinkedIn or visit elainewalshmcgrath.com to explore how repositioning works.