May 27, 2026
Your LinkedIn profile is speaking for you right now, but is it telling the truth?
There's a guy named Richard van der Blom who has made it his mission to study and analyze every single LinkedIn update and how it affects performance (very grateful for people like this). Every year, he releases a huge report with all his latest findings. Last month, he released his 2026 report: 200+ pages, 1.3 million posts, 80,000 accounts analyzed.
And I'll tell you what I told all of our clients this month: when you're focused on quality over quantity and posting to build authority vs. virality, these algo updates are like your friend geeking out about the "right" way to load a dishwasher. Fascinating to some people, but completely irrelevant if the dishes are still coming out clean.
But there was one finding that we're paying very close attention to: 50% of your reach is decided before you ever hit publish.
Yes, you read that right.
The new AI layer in LinkedIn's algorithm isn't just evaluating your posts. It's evaluating you β your headline, your About section, your topic consistency, and the overall credibility of the person sharing the content. Before your words reach a single pair of eyes, the algorithm has already made a call about whether you're worth delivering.
Most people never know this is happening. They spend all their energy crafting the perfect post and then feel defeated when the reach doesn't come.
They assume it's the content or the timing or that LinkedIn has a personal vendetta against them and is determined to ruin their life. But I'm here to tell you that, in your case, it's likely not any of those things. I know you're smart, fully competent, and probably overqualified for the role you're in.
The irony is that the traits that make you great at your work are the exact traits working against you here. You're others-focused. You don't talk about yourself. You'd rather be caught doing good work than caught promoting it. So your profile ends up reading like someone trying not to take up too much space β which, on a platform where your profile is your first impression, ends up hurting you.
The expert in the room who nobody knows is in the room
Now before you close this email and say "I'm not going to change who I am just to game some algorithm" β stick with me for a second.
This isn't about changing who you are. It's actually the opposite.
If you're mission-driven, your expertise exists to create impact. But impact requires access β to the right partners, funders, platforms, and conversations. And access starts with trust. Trust starts with visibility and consistency.
When people can see how you think, they know how to approach you. They know what to bring you. They know when to say your name in a room you're not in.
When you're invisible, none of that happens, because the people who need what you know can't find the signal through the noise.
Your profile is that signal. Right now, for most purpose-driven leaders, it's either off or it's on so low nobody can hear it.
So what needs to change?
Before you rewrite a single word of your profile, do this first.
Everything I build with clients starts with what I call their Better Way Momentβ’ β and it's the thing I wish every leader found before they ever touched their headline.
Here's the short version: somewhere in your career, you had a moment where you stopped doing things the way everyone else was doing them. You saw a problem others were missing, or a solution others kept overlooking. That moment of conviction is what differentiates you from the hundred other people with your title and your credentials. It's what people actually latch onto. It's what makes someone read your About section and think this person gets it instead of scrolling past.
Reflect on this: When did you first think, there has to be a better way to do this? What did you see that others weren't seeing yet?
This is your starting point. From there, everything else has a north star β your headline, your About section, the posts you pin in your Featured section. Instead of trying to sound impressive, you're just telling the truth in a way that the right people immediately recognize and feel.
The trust economy is real, and it starts before the post.
We're in a moment where AI-generated content is flooding every platform. Audiences are getting better at sensing when something is hollow, and the leaders who will break through aren't the ones posting the most. They're the ones whose presence feels real.
Your lived experience through your Better Way Momentβ’ is your competitive advantage... but only if it's visible.
Repeat after me: This isn't about self-promotion. It's about self-trust β trusting that what you know is worth saying, that your experience is worth naming, and that the people who need your help need to know you exist.
You've already done the hard work of showing up for your team, your program, and your mission. Now it's time to let your profile catch up.
The Magnetic Profile Guide walks you through the exact framework I use with clients β from clarifying your positioning to rewriting your headline, About section, and Featured section. Make a copy and work through it at your own pace. Email me if you get stuck.
A word of honest warning before you dive in.
I fully recognize this is not a quick fix you can knock out in a Tuesday afternoon.
When you start doing this positioning work, the overthinking (and insecurities) kick in fast. You'll rewrite your headline fourteen times. You'll ask your partner if it "sounds like you" and they'll say yes to everything just to make it stop. You might find yourself sending screenshots of your new About section to your aunt who has never once been on LinkedIn, asking her if it makes sense. (She'll say it's great. She's being kind. She has no idea.)
This is normal. It means you're taking it seriously and you care.
But there's a better way to do it. (See what I did there? π)
If you don't want to do this alone β if you want a calm, supportive space to work through these updates together and get real-time feedback from me and a room full of other thoughtful, credible leaders who are doing the same thing β the next Thoughtful Leaders Cohort starts next week!
We meet, we work, we laugh at each other's overthought headlines, and by the end you have a profile that actually sounds like you at your best.
Because your expertise is too valuable to stay invisible.
Stop overthinking, and let's get to work.
Brynne
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