LinkedIn personal branding for VPs and C-level executives | CEO @ GrowedIn

Began writing at 16. Started freelancing at 18. Launched GrowedIn at 21. Built GrowedIn Digital at 24. Turned it all into a group of companies at 25.

The north star remains the same: focus on quality, happy customers, and treating people well.

Most of my time now goes into driving vision, operations, and growth. I focus on building systems that scale, teams that care, and client relationships that last.

Outside work, I spend my time strength training, cycling, exploring new food spots, watching good films & TV shows, and writing occasionally on my personal website: keyurkumbhare.com.

Keyur Kumbhare

About 6 months ago, when we published the very first State of LinkedIn Report, one theme stood out clearly.

Personal brands were outperforming company pages.

That observation has been already discussed a lot over the past few years. LinkedIn works best when people talk to people. Posts from individuals tend to spark more conversation and move through networks faster.

Over time, another pattern has become clearer.

The conversation is no longer really about personal brands vs company pages.

The companies doing LinkedIn well today are using both, and treating them as part of the same system.

They simply play different roles.

Personal profiles are where thinking shows up.
Ideas. Perspectives. Lessons from the field.

Company pages carry the enterprise side of the brand.
Announcements. Product launches. Hiring updates. Company milestones.

One starts conversations.
The other records what the company is building and shipping.

When these are connected, the same idea moves through different layers of the network.

A leader shares a point of view.
The company page adds the official update or context.
Employees reshare it and add their own perspective.

Over time this creates a much stronger presence than relying on one channel alone.

This is one of the shifts we are looking at as we prepare the Spring edition of the State of LinkedIn Report.

There are a few more patterns emerging on LinkedIn that were not as visible even a year ago.

More on that soon.

Our Spring report drops in April. Link in the comments if you'd like to sign up.

I came across a post yesterday claiming personal branding delivered massive ROI in the first month for a client.

And honestly, this is where things start going wrong.

At GrowedIn, we’ve been in personal branding and LinkedIn for over 5 years now, and one thing has always been clear to us. Personal branding is not a direct revenue channel. It is a trust layer. A reputation layer.

Can it lead to business? Of course. People discover you, trust you, and sometimes reach out. But that is a byproduct, not the promise.

The problem with posts that push “5x ROI” or quick returns is that they set the wrong expectations. People come in thinking this is a lead generation engine. It isn’t. And when that expectation breaks, trust in the entire space drops.

We’ve seen this firsthand. Prospects often come in expecting immediate returns because that is what they’ve been told online. In reality, what personal branding does is much slower and much deeper. It shapes how people perceive you. It builds familiarity. It compounds over time.

If your goal is predictable leads, there are clearer ways to do it. Outbound, ads, structured sales processes. Those are designed for that outcome.

Personal branding plays a different role. It makes the rest of your efforts work better. It builds credibility before the conversation even starts.

As founders and operators, it is important to be honest about what we are selling and what we are buying. Not everything needs to be positioned as high ROI to be valuable.

Some things are valuable because they build the foundation.

Got ADHD? Pay What You Want for my products. No joke.

I’m a therapist who helps adults with ADHD regulate their nervous system, focus, and move from overwhelm to action using neurobiology-informed mindfulness and solution-focused strategies.If this resonates with you, click below for free items:ADHD library: https://thriveadhd.gumroad.com/Newsletter: https://biturl.top/uayARfTikTok: www.tiktok.com/@therapyjakeYouTube: https://youtube.com/@TherapyJake

Jacob Kountz

stranger: everyone is a little ADHD.
me: oh for sure, everyone meets full criteria for a neurological/ clinical disorder that keeps them from maintaining their job, keeping friends, attending doctor visits, going to college, completing all tasks they start, and not maintain a healthy perception of themselves and perceive rejection from others all day everyday from every social interaction they’ve ever encountered.

For sure, everyone is totally experiencing that.

#adhd

Therapist helping adults with ADHD regulate their nervous system, focus, and move into action.

stranger: do you ever rest?
my adhd: of course I rest, I mean I don't get a lot of sleep but I'm up at night resting while working on projects, I'm really a night owl anyway because most of the day I'm thinking about something that really motivates me but it is hard to move at the same time, so basically I'm in a resting state, and lately I've been looking up ways to rest even better so I can prepare a bit more for when I do need rest you know?

#adhd

I’ve got to be kinder to myself today. 

Why?

Well. When you balance working full-time, a doctorate program, hobbies, challenges, oscillations with ADHD, and the law of entropy, sometimes you feel burnt out, stuck, or negative feelings. And then those negative feelings can skew my meaning making lens.

On one hand, I could spend more time in this negative space, which will likely give me a much heavier day to deal with. Or, I could acknowledge this moment and consider the option of noticing what is going well too:

- I get to work my dream job as a therapist
- I’m a doctoral candidate (wow)
- I get better sleep these days
- I’m comfortable sharing

And I think it’s that last one that helps, especially for LinkedIn and building community. I’ve got many hard days but also many moments of gratitude.

Maybe you can relate. 

#adhd

taplio

The Battle

Keyur Kumbhare

Jacob Kountz

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreKeyur Kumbhare's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJacob Kountz's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Keyur Kumbhare

Jacob Kountz

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Keyur Kumbhare's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJacob Kountz's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreKeyur Kumbhare's LinkedIn Performance