You’re visible… but for the wrong reasons

Grey blobs. Steering wheel selfies. Wedding crops.

A while back, I ran a poll on LinkedIn that revealed something shocking (but not surprising):

90% of treasury professionals are effectively invisible on LinkedIn. 

They either post once in a blue moon or haven’t updated their profile since 2017. That’s a missed opportunity. And I’ve already written about why visibility matters.

But today, let’s talk about something worse than invisibility…

Being visible for the wrong reasons.

Here are three ways you might be doing yourself more harm than good, and how you can fix it.

1. The Rogues Gallery (AKA the LinkedIn mugshot hall of shame)

Your profile photo is the first thing people see. So why, oh why, are so many of them terrible?

I once made an article of the worst offender categories for this (which I called the Rogues’ Gallery). To give you an idea, it was stuff like:

• The blurry selfie
• The “I cropped out my ex” pic
• The grainy mugshot
• Or worst of all… the grey blob

If your profile still has the default silhouette, you’re not just invisible, you’re forgettable.

Get a professional headshot. Or at the very least, one where you’re looking at the camera, well-lit, and wearing something that doesn’t scream “holiday in Ibiza”.

2. Fix Your Visibility Settings

You’d be amazed how many people think they’re active on LinkedIn but no one can actually see them.

Check your settings. If your account is listed as “private mode”, you need to change it – here’s how. 

And as a side note: if you haven’t updated your headline since your graduate scheme in 2009, you’re not doing yourself any favours…

Make sure your headline tells people what you actually do (and that it’s at least relevant to treasury).

3. Don’t Be That “Influencer”

We’ve all seen them. Posting every day. At every event. Tagging every speaker.

Sharing hot takes on politics, AI, the economy, and the latest LinkedIn algorithm – whether they know anything about it or not.

But here’s the thing: visibility isn’t credibility.

And yes, I get the irony. I post. I speak. I go to events. But I stay in my lane.

And my newsletter and videos are me, not a machine. Not perfect. But real.

You won’t catch me churning out some ChatGPT-generated waffle every Friday morning pretending I wrote it.

Because I know some recruiters are doing exactly that.

It’s not thought leadership – it’s noise.

One of the best bits of advice I ever got was from my podcast coach, Kevin Chemidlin (legend, by the way – if you want to launch a podcast, talk to him).

He told me:

“Mike, ChatGPT is AVERAGE.”

It takes everything – the brilliant, the boring, and the downright rubbish – and averages it out.

So what do you get? A big pile of… meh.

And that’s what too many people are posting. Stuff that looks fine. Sounds fine. But says absolutely nothing.

So here’s what I’d suggest instead:

• Talk about what you actually do
• Share something useful
• Tell us who you help and why it matters

I’ll stick to writing about treasury – recruitment, salaries, careers – the stuff I actually know.

So, let’s all keep this in mind:

LinkedIn isn’t your vanity project. It’s your digital reputation.

And if you’re showing up like a grey blob, reposting memes, or trying to sound like a treasury influencer without a clue, it’s time for a rethink.

Best regards,

Mike

P.S. Not sure where to start?

Post once this week. Share something helpful. Start a conversation.

And for the love of all things treasury… update your profile photo!