Tag Archive for: professional development

From Passion to Positioning: How to Turn Your Professional Value into Recognition and Impact

Second article in the series: “From Professional to Authority”

If you’re someone who works hard, delivers results, adds real value, and truly commits—yet still feels overlooked—this article is for you.

Once you’ve connected with your purpose and strengthened your mindset, the next step in building a powerful and strategic personal brand is to transform your experience, passion, and talent into a recognized value propositionwithin your organization or industry.

This article isn’t about selling products or leaving your job to become an entrepreneur. It’s about positioning yourself as a high-impact professional—someone who can clearly articulate what they do, how they do it, and why it matters in the ecosystem they’re part of.

Because in today’s corporate world, if you don’t communicate what you bring to the table, you run the risk of becoming invisible.

Skills are essential—but visibility is the differentiator

Having experience and capabilities is crucial. But the real key is knowing how to translate all of that professional value into a strategic narrative that allows you to:

  • Stand out

  • Gain visibility

  • Connect with the right people

  • Be considered when new opportunities arise

What isn’t communicated doesn’t exist.
And if you don’t know how to express your value, someone else with more visibility might take the place that could have been yours.

Questions to identify the value you already have (but aren’t yet communicating)

  • What excites you most in your profession?

  • What types of projects do you enjoy the most?

  • What challenges energize you?

  • What kinds of conversations light you up?

  • What do you excel at naturally?

  • What kinds of problems do you love solving?

  • What skills do your leaders, clients, or colleagues frequently acknowledge?

  • What kind of impact do you create in your environment?

  • How does your expertise contribute to value?

    • Does it help drive better decision-making?

    • Enable strategic implementation?

    • Improve processes, outcomes, user experience, or company culture?

Answering these questions will help you uncover your “value zone”—the intersection between your skills, your passion, and your organization’s needs. And that’s the core from which a powerful personal brand is built.

Positioning: More than a title, it’s your professional message

Too many professionals define themselves by their job titles:

“I’m an operations manager.”
“I’m a marketing director.”
“I lead projects.”

But your title says nothing about the impact you generate or the unique value you offer.

Real positioning begins when you can articulate your value proposition clearly, specifically, and meaningfully.

For example:

“I help regional teams align their processes with global business objectives, reducing timelines and improving strategic decision-making.”

“I translate complex financial data into accessible insights so that non-financial leaders can make faster, lower-risk decisions.”

When you present yourself this way, you’re not just describing what you do—you’re communicating your impact, your differentiator, and your purpose.

Why this matters for executive growth

Because growth opportunities—promotions, strategic projects, regional or global visibility—don’t always go to the most capable person, but often to the most visible one. Like it or not, visibility is often interpreted as trustworthiness.

Of course, visibility alone isn’t enough. Once seen, you must also deliver consistent value. But visibility opens the door—and value keeps it open.

And that perceived value is built through how you speak, lead, engage, and communicate who you are and what you bring to the table.

A well-positioned personal brand:

  • Helps others identify you as an expert

  • Attracts the attention of decision-makers

  • Opens conversations and opportunities that wouldn’t happen otherwise

The role of executive coaching in your positioning strategy

While you can certainly build your personal brand on your own, executive coaching offers a structured and reflective space where you can:

  • Clarify your professional value proposition

  • Turn your experience into a narrative that connects

  • Build confidence to make your impact visible—without feeling like you’re “selling” yourself

  • Design strategic actions to raise your profile inside your organization or across your industry

Coaching doesn’t just help you see what’s already there—it helps you name, shape, and share the value you’re not yet communicating, and that could be the key to unlocking your next level.

Your value already exists—it’s time to make it visible

Personal branding isn’t about creating a slogan or building a persona. It’s about showing—authentically and strategically—the value you already hold, so others can see and benefit from it.

Doing great work is essential. But it’s not enough.

You need clarity. You need narrative. You need purpose. And you need action.

Are you ready to turn your experience into strategic positioning?

Building High-Impact Relationships Through Communication

One of the fundamental aspects of success, both as individuals and as leaders, lies in our ability to connect with the right people in the best possible way to achieve the results we seek. This concept is beautifully explained by one of my coaching mentors, Laura Bicondoa, in her book Relación = Resultados: Una fórmula para la vida. She highlights how the quality of our relationships directly impacts the quality of our results.

In this article—the fourth installment in the Conversational Leadership series—I focus on how communication is an essential tool for building high-impact relationships that positively influence the achievement of our objectives. Communication is the most powerful tool to influence, motivate, and foster commitment within a team.

Every interaction, message, and conversation has an impact.

High-impact professional relationships are not built on commands or hierarchy, but on dialogues that create trust, clarity, and shared responsibility.

However, many leaders struggle with managing difficult conversations, avoiding misunderstandings, and ensuring their teams feel heard and valued.

To achieve this, it is essential to develop three key communication skills—which we have explored in previous articles but will now examine through their role in building strong and high-impact relationships:

  • Assertiveness
  • Effective Feedback
  • Active Listening

1. Assertiveness as the Foundation of Leadership

Assertiveness is the ability to express ideas, needs, and expectations with clarity and respect. An assertive leader not only transmits information but also establishes healthy boundaries and fosters an open and honest communication environment.

What distinguishes an assertive leader?

  • Speaks with clarity, avoiding ambiguity or indirect language.
  • Expresses expectations based on facts and behaviors, rather than personal judgments.
  • Uses a confident tone of voice and body language that aligns with the message.
  • Focuses on finding solutions rather than placing blame.

How does assertive communication influence relationships?

  • It fosters trust and mutual respect.

    • Transparent and unambiguous communication makes team members feel secure and clear about what is expected of them.
    • It prevents misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts or demotivation.

  • It reduces resistance to change.

    • Assertive communication helps address difficult conversations with empathy, ensuring people do not feel attacked or undervalued.
    • It creates an environment where change can be discussed without fear.

  • It enhances decision-making.

    • Precisely expressing needs and expectations aligns teams, optimizing time and resources.
    • Clearly defined agreements ensure that everyone understands their role within the strategy.

  • It strengthens collaboration and commitment.

    • Leaders who practice assertive communication create a space where employees feel heard and valued.
    • This increases motivation, a sense of belonging, and commitment to team objectives.

Assertiveness is not about imposing or manipulating, but rather about communicating with confidence and respect to reach clear and productive agreements.

Strategies to Improve Assertive Communication

  • Replace generalizations with specific facts.
  • Use “I” statements to reduce defensiveness.
  • Be direct but not aggressive.

2. Feedback That Inspires Action

As we explored in previous articles, effective feedback is the foundation of growth and continuous improvement. It is not just about pointing out mistakes or recognizing achievements, but about generating awareness and guiding performance enhancement.

One of the biggest mistakes in giving feedback is that it is often avoided or delivered ineffectively, leading to frustration or demotivation.

The key is to structure feedback strategically, ensuring it is integrated into daily interactions and ongoing performance evaluations in an organic way.

Principles of Strategic Feedback

  • Make it timely and frequent. Do not wait for annual performance reviews; integrate feedback regularly to ensure it becomes a natural and effective development tool.
  • Balance positive and corrective feedback. Entirely negative feedback is discouraging, while exclusively positive feedback can create complacency. The ideal approach is a balance between improvement-focused and recognition-focused feedback, always delivered with authenticity and sincerity.
  • Focus on observable facts and behaviours. Avoid personal judgments or subjective interpretations. A good strategy is to think like a video camera—recording only what is seen and heard, without assumptions or opinions.
  • Formulate specific requests instead of complaints. Feedback should include a clear action plan.

Effective Feedback Model

  1. Inspire: Explain the purpose and importance of the behaviour.
  2. Describe: Objectively state what was observed.
  3. Impact: Show how it affects the team or results.
  4. Call to Action: Propose a specific action to improve or reinforce the behaviour.

A structured infographic illustrating the four key steps for delivering effective feedback: Inspire, Describe, Explain the Impact, and Call to Action. The infographic is divided into four color-coded sections: yellow for Inspire, orange for Describe, red for Explain the Impact, and green for Call to Action. Each section contains an icon and a brief description of its purpose. Inspire emphasizes explaining the purpose and importance of the conversation, creating trust, and aligning with organizational values. Describe focuses on sharing observations objectively, using facts, and avoiding subjective interpretations. Explain the Impact highlights the effects of observed behavior on results, the team, and the work environment, including both positive aspects and areas for improvement. Call to Action encourages collaboration in designing clear, measurable, and actionable next steps while fostering continuous improvement through dialogue. The infographic visually organizes the feedback model, making it easy to understand and apply in leadership and team management scenarios.

Feedback should always be a dialogue, not a monologue. Encourage the other person to reflect and actively participate in the solution.

Additionally, any corrective feedback should lead to a clear agreement to ensure follow-through.

3. Active Listening: The Art of Understanding Beyond Words

As we discussed in the previous article, the most common mistake in communication is listening to respond instead of listening to understand.

A leader who truly listens builds stronger relationships, anticipates problems, and fosters trust within the team.

Active listening is not just hearing words—it is understanding the full message, including context, emotions, and intent, through both verbal and nonverbal cues.

Essential Principles of Active Listening

  • Give your full attention. Avoid distractions and focus on the person speaking.
  • Observe body language and tone of voice. Often, what is not said is more important than the words themselves.
  • Paraphrase and summarize to ensure understanding.
  • Ask open-ended questions to deepen the conversation.
  • Avoid interrupting or rushing the conversation.

How Does Active Listening Strengthen High-Impact Relationships?

  • It builds trust and mutual respect.

    • When a leader listens actively, team members feel their opinions are valued, strengthening relationships.
    • It creates a psychologically safe environment where people can express ideas without fear of being ignored or misunderstood.

  • It improves conflict resolution.

    • Active listening helps identify concerns before they escalate into major problems.
    • Demonstrating empathy and understanding reduces tension and makes finding solutions easier.

  • It enhances collaboration and teamwork.

    • Teams that practice active listening work together more effectively.
    • Ensuring that all voices are heard fosters idea diversity and innovation.

  • It aligns expectations and reduces misunderstandings.

    • Paying close attention prevents false assumptions and ensures that everyone understands the team’s objectives and needs.
    • This improves communication and makes agreements clearer and more effective.

  • It increases engagement and motivation.

    • When a leader listens actively, team members feel valued and understood, increasing their commitment to the organization.
    • It strengthens the high-performance culture.

Practicing active listening daily helps detect potential issues before they become crises and reinforces trust within the team.

Final Reflection

  • How does your communication style influence trust and openness in your professional relationships?
  • When you give feedback, does it inspire clarity and motivation, or does it create confusion and resistance?
  • Do you practice active listening to truly understand others, or do you just wait for your turn to speak?
  • How do your colleagues and team members react to your conversations? Do they feel valued and aligned, or do you notice distance and misunderstandings?
  • What adjustments can you make in your daily communication to strengthen trust, collaboration, and commitment in your professional environment?

A leader who communicates strategically not only improves their team’s results but also strengthens organizational culture and trust.

Are you ready to build high-impact relationships through communication?