The Influence Gap: Why Great Work Isn’t Enough
- Brian Talbot
- May 26
- 8 min read

You execute. You deliver. You even anticipate the needs before the meeting’s over. But somehow, when leadership starts scanning the room for next-level voices, you’re invisible.
That’s not about your skill. It’s about your signal.
You’re stuck in the Influence Gap.
It’s the space between doing great work and being seen as a strategic player. And it’s a gap mid-level marketers know too well.
Influence, not just execution, is what closes that gap. Visibility isn’t a byproduct. It’s a strategy.
Let’s break down what’s really going on behind the scenes and how you can show up like someone who’s already leading.
The Credibility Illusion: Why Hard-Earned Skills Get Overlooked
Everyone tells you to “speak up” or “own your value.” But what if the real challenge isn’t confidence? Instead, it’s lost in translation? Strong performance doesn’t always equal strategic recognition.
You’re Doing Great Work, But No One Sees Your Strategic Value
You’ve built the portfolio. You’ve delivered the wins. You’ve checked every box the job asked for, and then some. But still, no one quite sees you as “strategic.”
That’s the heart of the Credibility Illusion. Being known as reliable isn’t the same as being seen as influential.
A marketer who I was mentoring told me, “I was always the one they turned to in a crisis, but never the one they brought into the planning room.” It wasn’t about competence. It was about perception. And perception is shaped by story.
Influence Needs a Narrative, Not Just Experience
You can be the go-to person for solving tough problems, but if you’re not positioning your work in a larger business context, it disappears into the noise. No narrative equals no traction.
Another marketer I coached led a cross-functional campaign that exceeded every KPI. But in the executive debrief, her contribution barely got a mention. Why? She hadn’t told the story of why it worked, what strategic trade-offs she made, or how it aligned with broader business priorities. Her success was seen as a “team win,” not a leadership signal.
Another SMB marketer I worked with took a different approach. After writing a one-page personal manifesto for herself, she started reframing her weekly updates around her core beliefs: long-term value over short-term hype, clarity over complexity, growth through strategic storytelling. That shift in framing made her ideas stand out, and she was tapped to help guide a company-wide transformation. Same skills. Different signal.
Let Your Manifesto Speak Louder Than Your Résumé
Your résumé lists what you’ve done. Your manifesto communicates who you are, and why it matters.
Think of your manifesto as a decision-making filter and visibility tool. It helps you:
Speak from conviction, not just reaction
Frame your wins with intention and purpose
Lead with a voice that resonates beyond your role
“Being known as reliable isn’t the same as being seen as influential.”
Here’s how to bring it to life:
Don’t just report results. Connect the dots to strategic outcomes.
Don’t just list your wins. Explain the thinking that made them possible.
Don’t just speak up. Speak from a place of anchored clarity that signals leadership.
Bring that narrative clarity into your 1:1s, your pitch decks, your team meetings, your posts. When your story leads, your strategic value becomes visible and undeniable.
The Delivery Disconnect: Why Smart Messages Don’t Move People
Let’s be honest, most marketers don’t lack polish. We spend our careers mastering the message, tightening the slide deck, and rehearsing for high-stakes moments. But here’s the disconnect: your message might be perfect on paper, yet still fall flat in the room.
There are reasons why tight pitches don’t always translate to meaningful influence.
Your Pitch Is Tight, But It’s Not Resonating
You prepared. You rehearsed. You dropped the stats. You nailed the transitions. And still, crickets.
It’s not about logic. It’s about landing.
A senior strategist I worked with once described her style as "bulletproof." But after one big pitch fell flat, she realized that bulletproof isn’t the same as breakthrough. Her message was clean, but it didn’t connect. Honestly, it was cold, and so was the reception.
Another client had all the data lined up for a product update. But when she shared it in a leadership sync, no one moved. She told me, “I knew it was valuable, but I didn’t help them feel why it mattered.”
Smart messages don’t move people unless they’re carried by emotion, intention, and energy.
Influence Lives in Pacing, Emotion, and Expression
Influence happens in the delivery, not just the details.
You don’t need to perform, but you do need to connect with presence.
When your voice, posture, and point align, your message resonates. When they don’t, even the best ideas can fade into the background.
It’s the subtle shifts that create authority:
A slower pace that lets an insight breathe
A pause that signals weight
A confident tone that says, “This matters”
I once spent 15 minutes practicing a single transition between slides, not because the words were wrong, but because the shift lacked conviction. Once my voice caught up to my insight, I was very comfortable in nailing it. The pitch landed with force, and I won the work.
Performance Isn’t Acting, It’s Alignment in Motion
Let’s get away from the idea that great delivery means being theatrical.
You’re not on stage; you’re in alignment.
Your delivery should reflect the clarity and conviction behind what you are presenting. That’s not performance, it’s embodiment.
“Bulletproof isn’t the same as breakthrough.”
Here’s how to practice:
Record & Rewind: Share one insight out loud. Listen back. Does your energy match your intent?
Posture Scan: Deliver a 30-second pitch on video. Then, study yourself. What’s your body saying when your mouth’s moving?
Swap Bullet for Story: Replace one key point with a story. Did it drive the point home?
The best communicators don’t speak louder, they speak truer. They show up fully, not flawlessly. And when your delivery matches your insight, people don’t just hear you, they remember you.
Connection starts with embodied clarity.
The Situational Blindspot: Why Confidence Crumbles in New Contexts
You’ve said it a hundred times. You’ve delivered it with confidence. But the second the audience changes, your footing slips. The message that felt sharp suddenly feels shaky.
That’s not a lack of preparation, it’s a lack of alignment with the moment.
Let’s talk about what happens when your confidence doesn’t meet the moment.
Your Message Felt Solid, Until the Audience Changed
You’re solid with your team. Sharp with your peers. But walk into a leadership meeting or step onto a public platform, and the message doesn’t land the same way. Your tone tightens. Your energy flattens. You retreat into safety, and lose your emotional energy.
When I was a voice actor in Hollywood, I had an audition for Mucinex. It was for a national commercial that meant six-figures. I had the script. I practiced. I knew what I wanted to do. I had it nailed.
When I went into the studio for the final callback, I was intimidated by the room. The studio is where they created Nickalodeon cartoons, and the casting director was one of the best. I delivered the read. She liked it. She asked me to change it up. I was nervous and delivered it again in the same way. She asked me to change it up again, and I failed.
I lost out to another voice actor who delivered the final commercial almost the same way I auditioned it. But, I crashed in front of the audience that mattered. It cost me a national voice acting client that kept that character for over a decade, and paid millions of dollars over the course of the campaign.
Preparation and talent aren’t enough if you can’t adapt in the moment to the audience that matters.
Influence Requires Reading the Room and Rerouting on Demand
Influence isn’t fixed. It’s flexible. It’s not about sticking to the script, it’s about sensing what the room needs.
Context matters. So do:
The values of your audience
Their tolerance for complexity
The lens they’re using to evaluate your message
A rising leader I coached started creating three versions of her key insights: one for her direct team, one for her manager, and one for executive leadership. “It forced me to think about how I talked to specific groups,” she said. “And it made me a better communicator across the board.”
To adapt your message without losing your message:
Pre-Read the Room: What’s the energy? What’s at stake? What do they already believe?
Adjust the Angle: Speak to their priorities, not just your expertise.
Listen for the Pivot: If attention drops, don’t double down. Reroute. Ask. Reframe.
Presence + Context = Persuasion
Influence is situational, and that means your presence has to flex without fracturing.
That’s the sweet spot: when who you are and where you are can work together.
Think of presence like a spotlight. It’s not just about being seen. It’s about making others feel seen, understood, and confident in your ability to lead the moment.
“Confidence isn’t a personality trait. It’s a habit of listening, adjusting, and staying grounded under pressure.”
Here’s how to practice:
Map your comfort zones. Where does your voice carry? Where does it shrink?
Practice with different audiences. Rehearse in the mirror, then in a team huddle, then with a skeptical peer.
Debrief out loud. After every key interaction, reflect: What worked? What would I adjust next time?
Confidence isn’t a personality trait. It’s a habit of listening, adjusting, and staying grounded under pressure.
When your message flexes to meet the moment, it doesn’t dilute. It resonates.
Closing the Influence Gap: From Competent to Compelling
Everything you’ve read builds to this:
Influence isn’t reserved for the loudest or most senior voice. It’s accessible. It’s learnable. And it begins the moment you choose to align who you are with how you show up.
Here’s what high performers know: doing the work is the baseline. Influence is how that work finds its way into the moments that matter.
It’s how you show up, speak up, and align your presence that moves you from reliable to unforgettable.
So, what now?
Anchor Your Value in Your Authentic Self
You don’t need to mimic someone else’s style or voice. The goal isn’t to be louder or more polished. It’s to be more you, strategically, consistently, and visibly.
Oscar Wilde said it best: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Your power comes from alignment, not imitation. Anchor your leadership in what you stand for, not what you think others want to see.
Rehearse, Because You’ll Play the Way You Practice
Great communicators aren’t born. They’re built in practice sessions. How you rehearse is how you’ll show up under pressure.
Don’t wait for the big meeting to find your voice. Practice with peers. Record yourself. Get feedback. Iterate. Your influence will grow as your delivery becomes second nature.
Authentically Play to the Room
Adaptation isn’t selling out. It’s strategy. Influence is never one-size-fits-all. But here’s the key: flex without losing yourself.
When you show up fully aligned to who you are and attuned to what the moment calls for, that’s leadership in action.
Play to the room, but play as yourself.
Remember: you don’t need more credentials. You need more connection.
And when you lead with voice, presence, and adaptive insight, you stop waiting to be noticed.
You start being remembered.
The Influence Gap doesn’t close with louder effort. It closes with clearer alignment.
And you? You’re already closer than you think.
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