Episode 19 - People Cannot Refer What They Can't Explain
You can be well known, well connected and highly regarded - and still be difficult to refer.
People may like you.
They most likely really trust you.
AND think very highly of your experience.
But if they cannot clearly explain what you do, where you add value or when someone should speak to you, opportunities can get lost before they ever reach you.
That is a different problem from visibility.
Sometimes people already know you perfectly well.
The problem is that they only understand part of what you do, or they have put you into a category that no longer reflects the level you’re operating at.
And when the right conversation happens without you in the room, that matters.
In this episode, I talk about:
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Why being well known does not automatically make you easy to refer
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What happens when people understand your experience but not when to bring you into a conversation
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Why the breadth of your experience can sometimes make you harder to explain
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What my own recent conversations have shown me about how people interpret my work
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Why your reputation needs to be clear enough to travel without you
A useful question to ask yourself is:
If somebody met the perfect person for me tomorrow, what would they actually say about me?
Not your full career history.
Nor every capability you have.
And not a polished elevator pitch.
They just need enough for the other person to understand why the two of you should speak.
Because the people in your network are often carrying your reputation into rooms you are not in.
And if they have to work too hard to explain where you fit, they may not think of you at all.
People cannot recommend what they cannot explain.
Your reputation has to be portable enough to travel without you.
If this is something you’re working through in your own executive profile, you can find out more about my advisory work here:
And if you want to stay connected, you’ll find me on LinkedIn here:
