Bahar Selman, PCC

You look successful on paper.

Senior title. Strong salary.
Respect inside your company.

But your career is more fragile than it looks.
AI is compressing senior roles.
Restructuring doesn’t care about loyalty.
And your 15–25 years of expertise is invisible outside your employer.

If corporate ended tomorrow, most leaders at your level have:
• No external personal brand
• No consulting or advisory options
• No income diversification
• No real Plan B

That’s not a talent problem.
It’s a career longevity problem.

Career longevity isn’t about staying in one job longer.
It’s about staying relevant, visible, and in demand across decades—
regardless of age, AI disruption, or employer dependency.

That’s where career autonomy comes in.

Career autonomy means:
• Your expertise is portable
• Your reputation exists outside one company
• You have options before you need them
• One corporate decision can’t derail your future

I work with senior corporate leaders (Directors, VPs, C-suite) who:
• Have built impressive careers inside multinationals
• Feel the growing risk of invisibility and replaceability
• Want to protect their income, identity, and legacy
• Need a strategic way to build visibility without harming their corporate role

This is not about quitting your job.
And it’s definitely not about becoming an “online influencer.”

It’s about strategic positioning.

I spent over 15 years inside global corporations, building brands, leading teams, and operating at senior levels.

I’ve seen firsthand how quickly:
• Roles disappear
• Experience gets discounted
• High performers become “too expensive”
• Loyal leaders get caught unprepared

Since then, I’ve worked with 500+ senior professionals to help them:
• Turn corporate experience into visible authority
• Build reputation-safe personal brands
• Create consulting, advisory, and portfolio options
• Design exit strategies on their own terms

Through The Career Autonomy Blueprint™, I help experienced leaders:
• Clarify their next chapter
• Position their expertise for the external market
• Build LinkedIn visibility that attracts opportunities
• Create a strategic safety net before they’re forced to use it

The outcome isn’t noise or vanity metrics.

The outcome is power:
• Options
• Confidence
• Leverage
• Control over your future

If you’re still employed but quietly thinking:
“Something needs to change but I don’t know where to start”
You’re exactly who this work is for.

DM me on LinkedIn or email info@baharselman.com when you’re ready to explore your options

Consultant

Bahar Selman

I might lose friends over this, but:

Staying in one company for 15+ years is career suicide in 2026.

Here’s why I’m willing to bet my reputation on it:

Because loyalty doesn’t protect you anymore.

AI eliminates roles. Restructuring is constant. And the longer you stay invisible in one company, the harder it is to pivot when you’re forced to.

I’m not saying quit your job.

I’m saying build Career Autonomy WHILE you’re employed.

So when the time comes—and it will—you have options.


Do you have options? Or are you hoping loyalty will save you?

Bahar Selman,PCC

Career Longevity & Personal Branding Strategist for Senior Corporate Leaders │ Executive Coach │ Corporate Trainer │ Corporate Workshops & Keynotes @ Uphuman │ Ex–Diageo, Danone, Red Bull

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By 2027, “having a good resume” will be obsolete.

The people who win will be those who master personal branding today.

Because AI can write resumes.

But AI can’t build trust, credibility, and relationships.

Are you still relying on your resume to get your next role?

Or are you building a personal brand that makes recruiters come to you?


The choice is yours. But 2027 is closer than you think.

In corporate, it’s easy to spend 40 hours on “looking busy.”

Attending meetings. Responding to emails. Following processes.

But the real career growth happens in the 2 hours you spend on:

	•	Building your personal brand
	•	Optimizing your LinkedIn
	•	Creating strategic relationships outside your company

Because “busy” keeps you employed.

But “high-value” makes you irreplaceable.


Where are you spending your 2 hours?

#careerlongevity

I made the same mistake at the peak of my corporate career.

I thought a strong results, and internal credibility
meant I was safe.

I thought staying quiet was “professional.”
That visibility was risky.
That loyalty would be rewarded.

Then I watched restructurings wipe out people with 20+ years of experience.
AI accelerate faster than job titles.
And brilliant leaders become “redundant” overnight.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Invisibility feels safe until it becomes your biggest risk.

Most leaders hit by restructuring aren’t weak performers.
They’re strong operators with zero external positioning.

Inside the company: respected.
Outside the company: unknown.

And if your value disappears the moment your corporate email does,
that’s not stability.

That’s fragility.

The leaders who will survive what’s coming
aren’t louder, younger, or trendier.

They’re visible before they need to be.

Sit with that.
Then rethink how you’re positioning yourselfwhile you still have the choice.

Most people ignore “feeling invisible at work.”

They think: “It’s fine. I’m still getting my paycheck.”

But in 6 months, that turns into:

	•	Being passed over for promotions
	•	Being “too expensive” during restructuring
	•	Being eliminated because “no one knows what you do”

Are you ignoring it?

Because the cost of staying invisible is higher than the cost of building visibility.


When was the last time someone outside your company asked for your expertise?

5 signs your current career strategy is a ticking time bomb:

	1.	You haven’t updated your LinkedIn in 6+ months
	2.	No one outside your company knows what you do
	3.	You’re waiting for “the right time” to build your personal brand
	4.	You think loyalty will protect you from restructuring
	5.	You have no Plan B if your job ends tomorrow

If you see #3, stop what you’re doing immediately.

Because “the right time” never comes.

The right time is NOW. While you still have leverage.


How many of these apply to you?

Let me guess.
You're reading this because part of you is thinking, "This sounds great, Bahar. But is it too late for me?"

You're in your mid-40s/50s. Everyone else started years ago. Haven't you missed your window?

Here's what I want you to know.

You haven't missed your window. 
You've been building credibility while others have been building followers. Now it's time to combine both.

Your 15-25 years of experience is not a liability. 
It's your unfair advantage.
But only if people know you exist.

That's the difference between professionals who thrive and professionals who survive. 

Between those who have options and those who feel trapped.

The best time to build your brand was 5 years ago. 
The second best time is NOW.

Because every week you wait, your expertise becomes less relevant. 
Not because you're getting older. 
But because the market is moving forward without you.

It’s About Not Putting Your Head in the Sand.
One line in this conversation stopped me cold.

Jamie Dimon doesn’t dramatize AI.
He doesn’t soften it either.
He says it plainly:
“Don’t put your head in the sand.”
That sentence alone is a career warning.

Because when asked whether AI will wipe out jobs, he doesn’t hedge:
“Will it eliminate jobs? Yes.
 Will it change jobs? Yes.
 Will it add some jobs? Probably.”

This isn’t panic.
This is realism.

And then comes the line every professional should sit with:
“You can hope for the world you want, but you’re going to get the world you got.”

Hope is not an employability strategy.
What matters now is how fast change happens, and whether people are ready for it.

Dimon makes a critical distinction most career conversations miss:
The danger isn’t AI itself — it’s speed without preparation.
“If it goes too fast for society… that’s where government and business need to step in together.”

Retraining.
Relocation.
Income support.
Phasing change instead of detonating it.

His example is blunt:
“You can’t lay off two million truckers tomorrow.
 You phase it in. You retrain.”

Now zoom out and make this personal.
This is no longer just a policy issue.
It’s a career design issue.

Because a few minutes later, he’s asked the question everyone avoids:
“In five years’ time, will JP Morgan have fewer employees than it has now?”

His answer:
“My guess is there’ll be fewer employees.”
Not no employees.
Fewer.

Which means employability is shifting from:
role ownership → value ownership
job security → skill mobility
experience alone → adaptable relevance

AI won’t replace professionals.
It will replace professionals who can’t clearly explain why they still matter.

Career longevity now belongs to those who:
Reposition early
Learn continuously
And stop waiting for certainty before acting

Because as Dimon puts it:
“You’re not going to slow it down.”

The question is not if your work changes.
It’s whether you change before the market decides for you.

Most senior leaders in complex organizations are promoted for performance, but left to lead and influence without a playbook.

You’re suddenly:

→ navigating constant change and reorgs
→ influencing people who don’t report to you
→ managing complex team and stakeholder dynamics
→ expected to create clarity in a fog of ambiguity

realizing that what got you here… isn’t working anymore

The pressure is huge when you’re asked to lead through complexity, influence across functions, and still rise to a true executive level.

That’s not your fault.
But it can become your edge, if you build it.

You don’t need another motivational pep talk.
You need a practical system to influence without authority and lead with impact, without losing yourself in the process.

I help high-potential senior leaders in complex organizations:

→ build trust and followership across teams and functions
→ feel fulfilled by how they lead, not just what they deliver
→ influence without authority in matrixed environments
→ simplify their message so decisions move faster
→ lead with more ease, calm, and authenticity

As an executive coach and former Google Global Director, I spent 15 years building and leading teams across Europe, the U.S., and Asia, inside one of the most complex organizations on the planet.

My approach is:

→  practical – grounded in real executive experience, not theory
→  precise – focused on the few moves that actually shift influence
→  people-first – you get to lead as yourself, not as a copy of someone else

I don’t hand out one-size-fits-all advice.

I ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and give you tools and structures that stick, so you can build trust, make decisions, and accelerate your growth.

The result is what I call your Executive Edge — The combination of clarity, relationships, momentum, and authenticity that makes people want to follow you.

If you (or leaders on your team) feel:

→ stuck in complexity
→ underpowered in a matrix
→ you’re just surviving change instead of leading through it…

Let’s talk.

Because influence without authority isn’t a “nice-to-have” anymore.
It’s the real skill of modern leadership.

—
Send me a DM or an email 
simo@simoschiassi.com

Simone Schiassi

I realized that my success as a coach
is entirely due to the tech equipment I use:

This week, after running a free training session
on How to Influence without Authority
(link in the comments, if interested)

I realized that my coaching business is thriving 
not because of my 25+ years in Fortune 500, 
or the 14+ years as Global Director at Google
or leading teams across cultures and around the world.

No, clients are only impressed by my tech gear:

1️⃣  8-year-old 4K camera stolen from the family - I need to connect it to a dongle that connects to the laptop to actually make it work like a webcam.

2️⃣  Selfie stick borrowed (permanently) from my daughter with RGB light that needs to be charged every 45 minutes.

3️⃣  IKEA lamp hidden behind my back to create "atmosphere", with a cable too short, so I can trip on it occasionally

4️⃣ Another background RGB light on a "snake" selfie arm that I used once to make  pizza remotely with my team during Covid

5️⃣ Laptop with 8GB of RAM, because memory upgrades are a way to make you sound more, but don't really need it (now cursing every time I open Canva)

6️⃣ A gigantic front light that shows all my wrinkles, hem, and wisdom. 

7️⃣ A second monitor next to my laptop, with seashells glued to its border, thanks to Matilda's art class

So here it is, my secret "tech stack".

For all leaders out there, working hard to show up at your best, all the time:

Remember that no one expects perfect, but everyone wants human at work. If people see a human, and not a corporate robot, they'll be happier to work with you and follow you (and even like you!)

Now gotta go, I need to recharge all the lights for my next client's session.

Built Google teams. Now I coach senior leaders who’ve mastered Excellence to build real Influence | ex-Google Global Director

You have been lied to about promotions
and here's what I've learned at Google

Companies don't promote

the best
the excellent
the hardest working
those who beat targets
those who overachieve quotas
those who "hit all the attribtues"
those who do what they are told

they promote those who

are coherent in who they are in every situation
can handle hard conversations with grace
did something unexpected and impactful
are coachable and have humility
who are liked by their manager
are consistent in their behavior
who are liked by their peers
create a following
build trust

If you have been working hard for your promotion and didn't get it
it's not because you are not excellent at your job

It's because the system rewards differently now.

----
Do you know if you are influential enough to get promoted?
Take my free test here
https://lnkd.in/dJHGjMHZ

I have been in the most hated org at Google
(and how I built trust while bringing bad news)

For a couple of years, I have been in the organization managing the strategy and operations of Alphabet's 200k+ temps, vendors, and contracts.

We were in charge of managing the strategy and the risk of having such a large external workforce. 

As you can imagine, it was more saying "No" than "Yes", 
when we'd show up, it would be to ask the business things they didn't want to do

In 2019, I was heading an initiative on behalf of Alphabet's CFO Ruth Porath to "move" more than 100k of our vendors in different locations, to both reduce co-employment risk and costs.

I was the bearer of bad news for every business unit globally, asking to disrupt the way they conducted business, in favor of a "higher need", which was intangible. 

There's a way to deliver uncomfortable news and build your stakeholders' trust at the same time. Here's how you can do it:

1. Lead with the facts and context - show up prepared, with as much reliable data and context as possible. We tend to underestimate how much others may not know about a topic we are deeply immersed in
   
2. Show genuine curiosity for their challenges - Don't assume you know enough about the effects of your "bad news" on their business. Being trusted starts with listening to others with an unbiased attitude
   
3. Propose options, but remain flexible - you may have a "standard" solution for the problem, but there's no one-size-fits-all, and certainly everyone feels they are different. Treat them and such, and learn as much as possible. 
    
4. Ask how you can help - underrated question, but trust is built upon offering to bring value, remove a pain, or simply working side by side on a problem. You don't know what others may need until you ask.
   
5. Follow-up and follow-through with reliability - keep them informed, over-communicate, and do what you said you would do.

The recipe is simple, but I've seen way too often leading with solutions, unintentionally disregarding our stakeholders' need to feel heard and seen.

--
📌 If you want to be a trusted leader, even when bringing bad news
Try my Daily Edge newseltter and become the undeniable choice for your next role. 
https://lnkd.in/dFYww-b7

Make performance reviews a non-event. 
Or lose your best people.

I hated performance review cycles at Google
I was always nervous and was dreading those reviews
even if 80%+ of the ones I had were more than positive
(of course, I had the crappy ones too)

Nothing has changed 
of anything, leaders have gotten worse
in delivering these reviews

And that's exactly the problem
It's not about the "moment" of the delivery

→ It's about the continuous "motion."
→ of setting expectations
→ providing regular feedback
→ (without shying away from the tough ones, uh)
→ and course correcting together

leaders are too busy, too comfortable, to afraid
to have regular conversations about the performance 
of their team members

and when it happens, they are awful
and make people upset (even if it's a good one!)
because they were left in the dark for the longest time

→ Do yourself and your team a favor:
→ bake the topic of performance management
→ into your regular conversation
→ so it's not a big deal 

Make perf review a non-event.
You'll thank me for that.

Do you want to enjoy leadership again?
Sign up for my mildly unhinged and fun newsletter
https://lnkd.in/dFYww-b7

how to deliver performance reviews that work

Miss Ninja came at dawn with a message
fear not, your identity is safe with me

In the Dojo Simo you may enter with hopes and fears

You are home here. You just need to trust the process.

Miss Ninja has been working hard for her Black Belt
She's humble and fierce because she knows 
This is the only way to make progress 

This is the special thing about the Dojo
You enter thinking you need to solve for work
and you discover new, powerful parts of yourself
that you once experienced, and you suppressed over time

Now the pain is gone, Miss Ninja.
I'll see you tomorrow at dusk, 
with the favor of the darkness
We will train again.

I'll leave your Black Belt on the door handle
You made it.

Do you want to discover what your influence is like today?
Take the Simo Dojo test (it's free) - you'll get your personalized report.
https://lnkd.in/dPeTXu8a

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Bahar Selman

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The Battle

Bahar Selman

Simone Schiassi

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Engagements

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