Why the Best Personal Brands Leave Room to Change

By Kerryn Kruger

I like having a plan and knowing what comes next. That helps me in client engagement, where clients rely on me to stay organized and follow through. It also means I’m learning to recognize when the plan needs to change.

At Brand of a Leader, our processes help us deliver consistent work, and we adapt them to how each client communicates and works best. Some arrive at a call ready to talk for an hour; others need questions that help them develop an idea. A detailed email suits one person, while a quick message gets a better response from another.

I’ve learned to adapt how I work with each client while keeping their goals in view. Building a personal brand requires a similar willingness to adjust.

Strategy Is the Starting Point

A personal brand strategy helps you decide what you want to be known for and who you want to reach. It gives you a starting point for choosing the stories you tell and where you share them.

Once that work begins, you have more information to work with. A social media post you expected little from might draw an unusually strong response, or a conversation might reveal an experience you had never thought to share, which in turn helps crystallize your thought leadership. Changes in your business can also give you a reason to revisit your original priorities.

I think a strategy becomes more useful when you make room for what you learn along the way.

Pay Attention to the Signals

Audience responses and conversations in your industry can help you decide what deserves more attention. I’d consider a strong reaction to one post alongside the reputation the client wants to build. That gives us a basis for deciding whether to explore the topic further.

This is something I see constantly in my role.

We can plan content weeks in advance, then a client has an experience that gives us a stronger story to tell. A media opportunity might need a quick response, or readers might show more interest in a personal experience than we expected.

Those situations call for a decision about what to adjust in the schedule and how the change supports the client’s goals.

Making Room for Unexpected Media Opportunities

A journalist or podcast host may ask you to discuss a topic outside the usual focus of your personal brand. It’s worth considering what you could contribute before deciding whether to accept.

Your own experience is a useful test. If you have dealt with the issue or have a relevant perspective, you may be able to contribute something useful even when the subject sits outside your usual content. If you have little to add, declining makes sense.

Speaking about an adjacent topic can also help people understand more about you. They get to hear how you think about an issue they might never have associated with your work.

Being featured by reputable publications can build credibility and give people more information to find when they search your name. It may also help your expertise appear in AI-powered search results. These are reasons to consider an opportunity alongside its immediate relevance to your usual topics.

Someone who finds you through an interview may form their first impression there, before ever visiting your LinkedIn profile. The experience you share in that conversation becomes part of what they know about you.

What Makes a Brand Recognizable

Your expertise gives you a basis for the subjects you discuss, while your values shape how you approach them. People should be able to recognize your perspective as your interests and work develop.

Publishing also gives you a chance to learn from your audience. You may discover that people want to hear more about an experience you had considered unremarkable. Following that interest can help you explain your work more clearly and decide what to share next.

Deciding Which Opportunities to Take

I find it helpful to keep the client’s goals in view when considering a new opportunity. The topic should connect to experience or knowledge they can contribute, and the way they approach it should reflect their values.

A trending conversation alone is a weak reason to take part. Having something useful to contribute gives you a firmer basis for deciding whether it is worth your time.

Learning to Adjust

I’m still working on this myself. When you put time into a plan, it can be difficult to accept that a different approach might serve the client better.

I want to get better at recognizing those moments and being willing to adjust. That might mean changing planned content to make room for a recent experience, or considering a media opportunity on a subject we hadn’t expected to discuss.

Part of my job is helping clients make those decisions, too. When an opportunity comes up, I want us to consider what they could contribute and how it fits their goals. That helps us decide whether we have a good reason to adjust the plan.