Stop Trying to Be Heard. Build Leverage.
Visibility can help senior leaders get noticed. But leverage determines how much weight their voice carries when important decisions are made. The strongest executives build that leverage long before they need to use it.
There was an interesting story this week.
Russ Weiner, the founder of Rockstar Energy, has accumulated more than 12 million shares of Celsius Holdings, or about 4.7% of the company. He’s pushing for changes at the top and has also said he’s interested in taking over as CEO.
Who ultimately runs the company is not important to me.
But this story got me thinking about how executives typically try to create change and advance their careers.
Weiner didn’t show up to a board meeting with an opinion or write an editorial.
He showed up with an actual position that was impossible to ignore.
Most executives take a different route.
They invest in being seen and heard.
I see senior executives overinvest in this all the time.
They work hard to get more exposure.
More visibility with the CEO.
More airtime in the meeting.
More opportunities to present.
More chances to demonstrate that they’re ready for the bigger role.
None of those things are bad.
Visibility matters.
Being heard means people know what you think.
Being seen means people know what you’ve done.
Both are forms of persuasion.
But leverage is more powerful than persuasion.
Leverage means important decisions are hard to make without considering you.
That’s a very different strategy.
And the best time to build leverage is long before you need it.
Before the promotion decision.
Before the compensation conversation.
Before the reorg.
Before the new CEO arrives.
Before you decide you want a different seat at the table.
Because once you’re in a negotiation, it’s hard to create leverage.
You’re mostly discovering how much you already have.
For most executives, leverage doesn’t look like buying 4.7% of a company.
It looks much more ordinary.
You own a relationship with a client the firm cannot afford to mishandle.
You understand a piece of the business that no one else understands as well as you do.
You’ve built a team with a reputation for producing leaders other teams want.
You’re trusted across businesses, not just within your own vertical.
You have senior people willing to put their own credibility behind your name when you’re not in the room.
You’ve taken on projects that increased the range of problems people believe you can solve.
You’ve developed a reputation for being useful when the answer isn’t obvious.
None of these things are as dramatic as taking a substantial equity position in a company.
But they can be just as effective.
And they’re built quietly, through small actions that stack up over time.
One decision.
One relationship.
One difficult assignment.
One piece of institutional knowledge.
One person who has seen you operate under pressure.
Then another.
Over time, you become incredibly hard to overlook.
This is where I think very capable people sometimes get career strategy backwards.
They spend enormous time and energy asking, “How do I get more visibility?” or “How do I get heard?”
The better question is:
“What can I build that will make my involvement matter to this firm’s future?”
Visibility is important.
It gets people to notice you.
But if the visibility disappeared and big decisions could still be made without your input, it wasn’t leverage.
Real leverage changes someone else’s calculation.
If you left, something meaningful would need to be replaced.
If you were excluded, somebody would notice the gap.
If your name came up for a larger role, there would already be people with evidence for why you could do it.
If you asked for something, the conversation would start from a different place because of what you had built beforehand.
This doesn’t mean hoarding information, creating dependency, or becoming the only person who can do your job.
Becoming indispensable in your current job can actually weaken you.
The goal is not to become impossible to replace.
The goal is to become impossible to dismiss.
That comes from your contribution.
Judgment.
Relationships.
Range.
Trust.
And enough proof accumulated over time that your value doesn’t require a presentation every time you walk into the room.
So if you’re thinking about your next promotion, compensation conversation, or leadership move, don’t only ask yourself how to make the case.
Ask something harder:
What leverage am I building now that will make the case easier six or twelve months from now?
Because by the time you need leverage, you want to be using it.
Not starting to build it.
Key Takeaways
Visibility gets executives noticed; leverage changes how decisions are made.
Career leverage is built before promotion, compensation, or succession conversations begin.
Executive leverage comes from judgment, relationships, trust, organizational range, and demonstrated value.
Becoming indispensable in your current role is different from becoming influential across the organization.
The goal is not to become impossible to replace. It is to become difficult to dismiss.
FAQ
What is executive leverage?
Executive leverage is the value, influence, relationships, knowledge, and credibility a leader has accumulated that causes others to consider their interests or perspective when making important decisions.
How do executives build career leverage?
Executives build leverage by developing strong relationships, solving strategically important problems, expanding their organizational influence, demonstrating sound judgment, developing other leaders, and becoming trusted across multiple parts of the business.
What is the difference between visibility and leverage?
Visibility means people know who you are and what you've accomplished.
Leverage means your involvement, support, expertise, relationships, or reputation meaningfully affects other people's decisions.
Visibility can create opportunity, but leverage strengthens your position when those opportunities arise.
Why should executives build leverage before a promotion conversation?
Leverage is difficult to manufacture during a negotiation. By the time a promotion or compensation conversation begins, much of your negotiating position has already been determined by the value, relationships, reputation, and alternatives you've built beforehand.
Is being indispensable a form of leverage?
Not necessarily. Becoming indispensable in your current role can sometimes limit advancement because the organization becomes dependent on you performing that specific job.
Stronger career leverage comes from demonstrating that your value extends beyond your current responsibilities.
How can senior leaders increase their influence?
Senior leaders increase influence by becoming trusted on important issues, expanding relationships beyond their immediate function, contributing to enterprise-level priorities, demonstrating good judgment under uncertainty, and building a track record others are willing to advocate for.
Build the Leverage Before You Need It
If you're thinking about your next promotion, compensation conversation, or leadership move, let's identify where you already have leverage—and where you need to build more of it.
About Brian Rella
Brian Rella is an executive advisor who helps senior leaders in financial services turn strong performance into recognition, influence, compensation, and their next leadership opportunity.
His insights focus on executive judgment, career strategy, organizational politics, and leadership at the highest levels.