#20 LinkedIn CMO Jessica Jensen: Get in the Scrum

In this high-energy episode of Stratospheric Leaders, Georgie sits down with Jessica Jensen, CMO of LinkedIn - the world's largest professional network with over a billion members across more than 200 countries for a conversation that is as practical as it is inspiring.

We often think of LinkedIn as a platform. Jessica reminds us it is something far more powerful – it’s your living, breathing CV, your external brand, and the place where the world decides what it thinks of you before you have even walked into the room. And yet so many professionals particularly women hold back. The perfectionism. The fear of judgment. The sense that self-promotion is somehow not for them.

This episode dismantles all of that.

From building your network to showing up authentically in the age of AI, this episode is a masterclass in visibility, personal brand, and why the most powerful thing you can do in a noisy world is simply show up as yourself.

Interesting areas covered:

•Why LinkedIn is your most underutilised career asset and how to change that

•Why video is the number one currency of communication today and how to get started

•Why in the age of AI, being a real human has never been more valuable

•The LinkedIn algorithm demystified and the myths firmly debunked

•How to navigate visibility as a leader in a regulated or high-scrutiny industry

•How to measure success on LinkedIn and why likes are not the whole story

•Why consistency beats perfection every single time

Jessica's warmth, wit, and clarity make this a must-listen for anyone building their profile, lifting their visibility, or simply wondering whether the right people know they exist.

Enjoy.

Show Links

Website - https://www.georgiedickins.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiedickins

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@GeorgieDickins-q7x

Transcript

0:00

Hi, I'm Georgie Dickens, host of Stratospheric Leaders, the podcast where I get to have inspired conversations with extraordinary leaders from across capital markets. Join me to hear their game-changing strategies, the personal stories and powerful soundbites behind their Stratospheric success. Every episode packed with wisdom, insight, and real-world lessons, the stuff they simply don't teach you in business school. If you want to elevate your game and most importantly those around you, this podcast is for you. Enjoy. Jessica, I have been looking forward to this conversation. And you and I first met at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. And I attended one of the, I'm sure, many panels you were on, and this specific one was at the Female Potion Lounge. And after listening to you, my intention was to come and say hello and introduce myself because I just thought what you shared was so powerful and insightful. Yet you were completely mobbed. So there was absolutely no way of getting anywhere close to you, but mobbed for all the right reasons, let's be clear. And uh by chance, I was at the LinkedIn Lounge later that day, and I happened to bump into you and I was like, Do you know what, Georgie? Seize the freaking day. Just go and have a conversation. Because I wanted you to know like how infectious your energy was, but how interesting your insights were because they were so actionable and accessible. And one of the hats that I wear is I'm founder and CEO of Women in Leadership Global, and it's a peer network for female executives in uh financial services. And I often, well, a common thing I observe is that women do a great job of getting the job done. They focus on their KPIs, they focus on all those objectives, and yet they're not giving enough thought, in my opinion, to their external brand, their external profile. And often it's like they don't know how to best engage with LinkedIn. There's a fear of judgment, there's a there's perfectionism that creeps in. There's I don't want to be braggadocious, I I haven't got time. But but as you and I have discussed, you know, LinkedIn has the ability to be this incredible brand ambassador, and it can be that living and breathing like that living and breathing resume, and it's a force multiplier. So I don't like it's it's it can do our speaking when we're not in the room. And so today I wanted to get the secret source for those people who are again embryonic to LinkedIn, or equally those who are already seasoned but could elevate their game even further. I want to hear some of those strategies that you shared with me. Great. Well, Georgie, thank you so much for finding me. And uh it's I've enjoyed our conversation so much. What you do to help women uh succeed and thrive in their careers uh is so important. I am a passionate supporter of women winning in business and work and rising to the very, very tops of companies and governments. So I am delighted to spend time with you. Yeah, I think that um, you know, I I run marketing for LinkedIn, and so I speak to a lot of people around the world about how to get the most out of LinkedIn, and I think what you said is so spot on. It is your living and breathing CV. It is also the way that you share your your wins, your achievements, you build a network, um, you share your thought leadership, you establish yourself as a credible, trusted voice in your industry, in your company, in your community. Um, and I also know very well that it's intimidating. And uh when I joined LinkedIn about sneaking up on a year and a half ago, I had previously been a text poster. And then I got to LinkedIn, and they're like, video, video, video. Video is the currency of communication today, and you need to jump into the scrum and make it happen on video. And I was terrified, I have to be honest with you. And so the advice I give to people and especially to women is don't overthink it. What are you learning? What are you building? What are you excited about in your career, in your job, in you know, what leadership lessons do you have to share? Pick up your phone, film a quick video. It's gonna be 30 seconds, two minutes, share some interesting insights, ask questions, get people engaged in the conversation with you and post it and don't freak out, right? Like people representing themselves and their insights on video is the number one way to build your personal brand. And the more you do it, the less terrifying it becomes. And uh it will become, you know, I now shoot, you know, maybe two or three short videos a week. Some weeks I do, sometimes I don't. And uh I ask people for their input and questions and reactions, and it builds, it builds a relationship and a network, um, which will help women in every echelon of society and work. Oh, because there's so many things to to to underschool there. And I remember when I first started out on LinkedIn, I happened to be uh speak uh to Marshall Goldsmith, who's a thought leader, and I was really that word you speak to like intimidating. And I remember saying to him, he's like, You've got to build your external profile. And I said, But I'm like, I'm just there's the perfectionism, the judgment. And he's like, get over yourself. Uh and you just said there about getting in the scrum, like just get in the scrum, and it's a muscle. The more you exercise it, the easier it becomes. That's exactly right. Yeah. And the the the the other piece there that I think is really important is that you you shared about video. Uh, you challenged me. Well, I wouldn't you didn't challenge me, you spoke about video being currency. I'm like, right, well, if this is currency, and and again, the old me would have been like, it has to be perfect. But I'm like, no, just share, just put some thoughts out there. And it wasn't. I saw the reaction, right? Yeah. Like people were elated that you were sharing that. And you said, and I love this, you said, you know, people build a relationship with you. I suppose they get to feel you, they get to hear, hear you, they get to understand what you stand for, you know, what you what your, you know, they get to understand what your thoughts, what you care about. That's right. And let's be clear: in this era of AI, the amount of junk that is being produced and created and pushed out to the world is uh uh accelerating exponentially. So the importance of trust in human beings and seeing a real human and hearing from a real human that you know is not AI generated is a thousand times more important than it was two years ago. Yeah, and what if you're I mean, you see it on LinkedIn, right? You see all these like AI written text things, that's not gonna be effective, right? But hearing from real people and feeling their emotion and hearing their judgment and their creativity, the importance of that in business, sales, yeah, government, like it's exploding. Yeah, and I think a hundred percent I hear you with the you know, with this acceleration in technology, human connection, like that is so important. And to your point, trust being the nucleus, we all buy from people fundamentally. Um and what when you think about you know, you speak to uh, you know, a lot of people, what do you think are some of the the the BS myths that people have when it comes to LinkedIn? Because let's like let's just debunk those now. Um uh some of the I mean there are there are many, that there's like a way to game the algorithm or the system, right? Like posting certain days or times, um or uh, you know, that um I mean they're they're just there, you know, I I think another another unfortunate myth that has gotten around a little bit is that we penalize women on the platform. Um and I just want to say super clearly that is dead wrong. We do not factor gender into the algorithm at all. So, you know, I I would never work for a company that did that. I am an ardent feminist. I post about feminism all the time. Uh, I can guarantee you I am not penalized for that. So I think there, you know, there are some myths going around that like LinkedIn favors certain kinds of people, or and that's absolutely not true. The algorithm is geared towards your interests, your connections, your network, who you follow, what kind of content you consume, and what content you share. Um, and that is a dynamic and fluid network of experiences at all times. So thus the thus what I say get into the scrum, right? Participate in the river of content and you know, connecting with other people, commenting on other people's posts, responding to comments on your own post to show that you are engaged in the network. Um, that's that's what matters. And how important is consistency? I mean, I post normally five times a week, and and it's interesting you said there is there is no specific, the more I enjoy it. So um it, yeah. And it also it helps me centralize my content. So there is a it's but I when you challenged me to the video, I actually ended up writing a poem and I which I really saw because you very kindly and and I didn't use AI. I was I was very adamant then. I want this to speak from the heart. And yeah, so I I I think the more we I don't know if the word is play with it, but but but engage with it, the I suppose the more we find our what speaks to us. Right. I I still do text posts, right? Like sometimes I want to write about something or share data, right? And so there's no one right way. Um, and everybody, you know, some people are not comfortable with video. That's okay. I get that. I think you'll gain more from LinkedIn and the network if you do video, but there's plenty of different ways to get engaged. Certainly, consistency and you know, being an active participant, like you. I mean, I think you are setting the bar very, very high. Um, you know, that that is helpful and and will build your credibility and your reputation in your network, but you know, it can be much lighter than that too. Yeah. Mine was a build, let's be clear. When I first started doing it, I was dipping my toe and it was like sometimes like, you know, one one a week, and then just being like, oh my god, how is the world going to receive that? Um and when when it comes to and it's not just female leaders, but leaders in general, I think it can pawn for, you know, we've discussed external visibility and a profile. And leaders in today's world, they they walk this tightrope of you're expect to have a voice, but you can't be too loud, but you can't be too quiet. So, but but you've got to have a you know a point of view. How how do you how do you encourage like what would be your advice or or thoughts there? Well, listen, I think it's very different based on who you are as an individual and what organization you work for and their tolerances, right? I know people who work for companies where what they can say is quite conscribed. And uh, I mean, you can say things as an individual, but when it gets into the, you know, like if you work in a regulated industry or your company is under great scrutiny from a policy perspective, obviously people need to be thoughtful about engaging with their comms team and you know what is desirable on the part of their of their company. Um but you know, I also think that you know people are infinitely creative and you can find areas of your expertise or you know what you're uh in even like what are you researching or looking into in your line of work where you want to ask for help and guidance. So, but I think you know, I mean, there's no one prescription, right? Every company's different, every culture's different, every person is different. Um and you have to navigate that thoughtfully. And so do I, right? I I work for the Microsoft Corporation, uh, you know, which LinkedIn is owned by. And so I work very closely with our comms team. Um, but uh, you know, again, I'm a feminist, I I uh champion women's rise in economies and work, and I feel extremely comfortable to say that and talk about that and post about that all the time. Hmm. I love that. Thank you. And look, when you think about people on all the those on LinkedIn who really create influence, like what is the recipe card? I mean, we we've talked about a few things here, you know, demonstrate thought leadership, you know, use video, that's great currency. But like what does the recipe card look like? Well, I think building a network, right? We we are a network. And so uh connecting with people in your industry, connecting with people at companies that you work at or with, um, following thought leaders in your industry or in topics that matter to you, commenting on people, other people's posts that are interesting to you. These are ways to build your network, right? And so when you connect with other people and share with other people, you build your network. And then when you are posting content that reflects your expertise, your lines of inquiry, your leadership experiences, you are then reaching that broader network and building your brand and very likely also building the brand of your company or your government. And I think that building the brand is so important. I I had a client not that long ago that said, you know, I headhunters don't kind of contact me like yet, they're contacting my peer group. I'm like, well, are you actually reaching out to them? And like, you know, what does your profile look like? There you go. And they don't engage on LinkedIn, but a lot of people do a digital drive-by, don't they? Like if I say, Oh, you must speak to Jessica, well, first of all, people do that digital drive-by. Let's just have a look. Let me get a sense of who she is. And if there isn't, if there is no data, like you can be very invisible. There you go. Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. And for example, people apply to work for me or with me at LinkedIn. What's the first thing I do? I go to LinkedIn and I see what have they shared. And it's amazing to me. There are a lot of people that will apply to LinkedIn and have never shared content with LinkedIn. Um so yes, I think that but but you're so right. Like, are you reaching out to connect with people? Like, why do these executive recruiters never reach out to me? Have you reached out to them? Like, what's what's what's keeping you? What's stopping you? Um So I think that I think that you're exactly right. It's a it's a two-way, three-way, five-way street. And and like we we talked about AI, uh, and and the a question I have around that is that I write my own posts, like anything that's text-based. And sometimes I bounce ideas, I'm like, just make this more concise, polish this a little bit. But to me, it's like it has to be my voice. And I'm like, and I remember a client recently, she it was a great uh great thing she put out there, she put out to her community, like, just tell me how how important is it to you to hear my voice or just get a sense of me? And and and the like the overriding response is like we want to hear from you. That's great. Um how does it work like again with with with LinkedIn in terms of you can it tell if something's you know, because sometimes one of the things I do put it through AI, I'm like, God, it says it so much better, but that's not my voice. Yeah. So thank you. I think the the guidance you're giving is exactly spot on. What is your idea? What is what do you want to communicate? And then of course, I use AI for editing and ideation and honing things or finding new data points to pull in. But at the end of the day, I am the voice, I am the editor. And and that is what you do. And I think that that is guidance that everyone should take. Um, and I think when we're reading and consuming content on LinkedIn, we can all tell when people are sharing their own ideas from their own voice versus asking a robot to do that for them. Yeah, and I think words carry energy. That's just my I feel like words carry energy. So how you construct a sentence, yes, if it's your sentence, it's got the energy of you kind of woven within it. And that's all I completely agree, and you do an excellent job of that. And I would say, and video is the same, right? You get a feeling, you know. When I talk about women in senior leadership on LinkedIn, people know I give a damn because I am emoting and I am speaking with passion and energy. Um, when I'm talking about trends in the labor market, I am doing it from a position of passion and interest. And hopefully I convey that in video. Um, so I, you know, the robots will never take away our judgment, our emotion, our persuasive skills with the written word or the verbal communication. I totally, I I I wholeheartedly agree with you there. And when um a lot of the leaders I work with, by virtue of um the fact they're in financial services, they look at metrics. Um, so when you think about LinkedIn, how do people measure their level of success? You know, because I think people look at likes and pressures, but like when you think about your own success on your posts, like what do you care about when you're you when you're looking at it? I think it depends on what you're trying to do, right? Um I I would say number one probably is the size of your network. How many connections and followers do you have? Now, I I am a public persona who represents the LinkedIn corporation. So the size of my reach and my network it matters. If I had a different role in a certain function in a certain company, that would be that would be different, right? Like I would like, I'm trying to reach millions of people. Maybe somebody that works in a bank in a certain certain area is really, there's only 5,000 people that really matter to that person and that business. So I think the the level of reach and network really varies by by what you're trying to do. But then once you have built the right network, then you would you certainly look, you know, at volume of engagement in your posts, uh, number of comments, but then we have a lot of people who are also, and I'm one of them, trying to sell on LinkedIn, right? So you're representing a product or service and you're trying to uh you know generate customers and leads. Um and so we have different, you know, we have ad solutions and sales solutions that we provide that allow people to, you know, actively build a network for selling and to monitor the performance of your ads vis-a-vis those targets. So I think you know, it if you're a government official trying to reach all of the workers of France, you have a very different set of objectives from a CRO at a software company trying to reach CTOs to buy a certain product or service. The word that comes up for me there is be intentional, like be intentional with your reach. Who are you trying to reach? And don't it stop comparing and contrasting yourself with others who may not be that their reach may be completely different to yours. That is exactly right. And what is your audience? Who are you trying to reach and what are you trying to get them to do? And the definition of that varies greatly. I have I've had such a journey with LinkedIn, and it's been such, and genuinely I mean this, I'm not just saying this because I'm speaking with you, but it's been a really enjoyable one. And as a as a um someone who posts, but also uh receiving thought leadership. There's several people I follow, and I'm learning, I'm educating it. I I you know, I find what who I follow. I'm very intentional around who I follow because again, there's so much noise in the world. I want to make sure that I'm, you know, I'm but I I learn, I find it a really great place, and also to keep connected. That's a huge part of why we're here, right? We want to help all of our vision as a company is to help all workers achieve economic opportunity. That is obviously vast and lofty. But we are trying to connect people, help people educate each other, to discover new sources of opportunity, which could be business or personal or leadership or launching a business, right? So thank you for saying that. And we're constantly trying to bring new voices and sources of authoritative expertise for people to discover. And so we have a top voices program, which you you probably are familiar with, yeah, where we are trying to identify and support um the best thought leaders across a wide range of sectors and industries. And you know, that's a big helping people get educated and find opportunity is why we get up in the morning at LinkedIn. Well, look, this has been such an enjoyable conversation. I am so pleased that we got to meet in Davos. So the stars were aligned that I did bump into you after I after the the uh the female quotient now. And as we close, you know, if you were to give you know uh female leaders in the world like one piece of advice when it comes to LinkedIn, what would that piece of or that wisdom be well? First of all, I would say to all women uh in the world of work, keep going. Don't give up. Uh the world of work needs you, needs your voices, needs your you women drive macroeconomies and families and communities. So thank you and keep going. Secondly, I would say on LinkedIn, we are the best place for you to build a network, share your expertise, develop your personal brand, and position yourself for advancement in your in your company, in your career, in your life. And the more you put in, the more you will get out of the network. I love that. Thank you so much, Jessica. Oh my gosh, Georgie, it is delight. Thank you for what you're doing. And uh I'm here for to help you and all the women in your network. And anyway, if you want to see the full episode, please do look at Apple and Spotify under Stratospheric Leaders or go to YouTube where it'll be under Georgie Dickens. I hope you enjoy the full episode. There are so many great sound bites shared.