Let me spill the tea on something most leadership development programs never touch — identity. Everyone wants more influence. More credibility. More trust. Bigger rooms. Bigger stakes. And yet most leaders are stuck trying to “perform” influence without ever understanding who they are as leaders in the first place.

So today, I’m breaking down the real reason external influence feels exhausting, awkward, or ineffective for so many leaders — and why the fix isn’t more content, more confidence, or more visibility. It’s alignment. Before you can influence well externally, you have to understand your leadership identity — not your title, not your personality, not your LinkedIn headline. Your identity.

That’s where Influence Archetypes come in. These aren’t personality tests or leadership labels. They’re signal patterns. They explain how your leadership naturally communicates trust, authority, and credibility — and where that communication breaks down when you’re not intentional. In this episode, I walk you through the five core Influence Archetypes I see show up in boardrooms, executive teams, and high-stakes leadership moments every day. And here’s the key: none of them are “better” than the others. The risk comes when leaders are developed without identity — and influence becomes accidental instead of strategic.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why most leaders struggle with influence before they ever struggle with visibility
• The five Influence Archetypes and how each one builds — or erodes — trust externally
• The hidden trust gaps that quietly undermine executive credibility
• Why copying other leaders’ styles is the fastest way to lose alignment
• How to shift from accidental influence to intentional leadership presence
• What boards, investors, and stakeholders are actually responding to — even when they don’t say it out loud

Your Next Steps:

• Access the white paper: External Influence: The Currency Every Leader Must Carry. https://externalinfluence.us
• Follow Shayna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaynarattler/
• Visit our website: https://executivesignalsgroup.com