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Anatomy of a Kickass LinkedIn

Welcome back to The 2x2 - the ultimate newsletter for executive consultants!

We already talked A LOT about LinkedIn and what you can do to improve yours.

This week, we’re back with a real example I worked on — Kris Hardy’s profile.

👀 There’s also a new job board at the end, so make sure you get to the end.

Read on…

Today in 5 minutes or less:

  • LinkedIn is your digital resume, so invest time and get it right.

  • A kickass profile is visually appealing, easy to skim, and makes your audience want to meet you.

  • Are you qualified? A roundup of interesting job postings we found last week.

But before we go there…

🎉 We made the list! 

We’re excited to share the news that Keenan Reid Strategies is no. 2041 on this year’s Inc 5000 list. 

See the full list of honorees here: inc.com/inc5000 

Thank you, Inc. Magazine. 

The Anatomy of a Kickass LinkedIn Profile

You don't understand. 

I hate LinkedIn. Have I made that obvious yet? 

We’ve written plenty about how to craft a great profile on LinkedIn – from writing your headline to knowing what to post. 

Check out the best ones here: 

But y’all, it’s required.  

Your LinkedIn profile is your modern-day resume, billboard, and first impression – all rolled into one. 

Whether you're job-searching or trying to stay visible to the right people, this is the first place someone checks you out. 

And if it looks vague, dated, or generic? You’ll miss your shot before you even know they were looking. 

That’s why it pays to be intentional. 

Today, let’s take a different approach and double click on one real-life profile we overhauled. 

We’ll show you exactly what we did and why. 

Meet Kris Hardy 

Kris Hardy is a strategically minded growth leader who thrives in the in-between space – the whiteboard-to-execution zone where new ideas become real and teams align around a path forward. 

She’s worked across industries and sectors, but there’s a clear throughline in her work:  

Building brands, leading teams, and helping mission-driven companies commercialize for real impact. 

That’s where we started. 

The Headline: Clear, Clickable, and Crafted for Her Audience 

Your headline isn’t just a description of you – it’s the ad for your profile. 

It’s what shows up when you comment, show up in someone’s search results, or get tagged in a post. 

All someone sees is your photo and that short string of words. That’s the moment they decide whether to click. 

For Kris, we workshopped the heck out of this. 

It had to: 

  • Say what she does (growth + commercialization strategy) 

  • Signal how she does it (cross-functional leadership, structured thinking) 

  • Appeal to her ideal audience (mission-driven orgs that want outcomes) 

We landed on a headline that’s confident, aspirational, and specific – not a list of keywords or a flat job title. 

The Headshot + Header: Pulling the Eye and Framing the Brand 

There’s a psychology behind this section. 

Your headshot builds familiarity because your face is a trust-building tool. Kris used a high-resolution photo with great lighting and approachability. 

The header image is trickier. 

Most people add their company’s colors or header itself. 

But if you’re not repping a company brand, what do you put there? 

We experimented for a bit, but here’s what worked: 

  • A clean, branded gradient that visually connects to her photo 

  • Simple, high-impact words that reinforce the profile message 

  • No clutter (no skylines, no stock photos, not too many logos) 

Her header reinforces her positioning without trying too hard. It guides the eye and gives your brain a reason to keep scrolling. 

The About Section: Talk Like a Human, Lead With Impact 

Most About sections read like a resume summary. And that’s exactly the wrong way to do it. 

Kris’ opens with what matters to her – building and scaling growth strategies that move companies forward. 

It’s clear, confident, and written in the first person. 

It’s not a simple chronological walk through her career. 

It’s a narrative that connects the dots: what she loves doing, what she’s great at, and where she’s driven the most change. 

By the end, you’ve got a strong sense of both her philosophy and her outcomes. 

💡 Bonus tip: If your personal brand is about delivering results, list some outcomes. If it’s about people, tell a story and make it sound real. 

The Resume Stuff: Still Matters

LinkedIn is your modern resume. So those Experience entries? Don’t skip them. 

Kris did a great job keeping hers brief but informative – just enough for someone to get the scope of the work and her role in it. 

Don’t overdo it. Even 3-4 lines per role is enough. 

Think of it as the highlight reel of your career, not the annual report. 

Skills and Recommendations: Curate and Focus

Here’s where most people phone it in. Kris didn’t. 

We trimmed and focused the Skills section to highlight the ones that map to her ideal consulting and leadership work. 

But also remember that too many random skills make for a muddled messaging. 

People who want to hire you will want to see skills that make you the perfect person for the job. 

💡 Bonus tip: If you’re not sure what skills to feature, copy and paste your ideal job description into ChatGPT and ask what LinkedIn skills match it. Then, revise it as needed. 

TL;DR: Your Profile is a Strategic Asset 

Kris Hardy’s profile works because it’s intentional. 

It tells the right story to the right people. 

It’s visually appealing, easy to skim, and written like a person – not a brochure. 

If yours doesn’t feel like that yet? Then time to revamp it. 

So steal these moves – update your headline, simplify your header, write your About section like you’d feature yourself in a conversation. 

Now you know what “kickass” looks like in practice. 

📌 Interested in a LinkedIn Refresh? 

If you like what we did with Kris’ profile and think it would benefit you, reach out to me on LinkedIn.

We can try something similar for you. 

Framework Focus: Continuum

The continuum framework is for every consultant who’s ever had to say “well, it depends” to a client. 

It organizes things into a spectrum to see where things actually sit relative to each other.

Still unclear? 

Imagine a consultant helping a SaaS company figure out why their ‘premium’ product isn’t selling. 

Product thought it was a messaging issue. Marketing blamed the lack of upselling efforts. And sales said the offer just wasn’t compelling. 

They were all half right, so the consultant pulled out the continuum framework. 

All the features were laid out in a spectrum – from “basic utility” to “high strategic value” – based on what customers actually cared about. 

When it was visualized, everyone saw what was obvious. 

Most of the features were flashy but not essential. And customers found real value in the mid-tier – enjoying deep integrations, high-impact automation, and better support for the price. 

The consultant helped the client repackage their offer by shifting some features around and updating the pricing model. This way, they highlighted the true value of the product. 

And within one quarter, sales for the ‘premium’ product finally took off. 

Organize ideas better and download our template here.

Remember, the path to success is paved with continuous learning and embracing fresh perspectives.

Let's stay connected, share ideas, and elevate your consulting business.

Stay curious, friends.

The 2×2 is brought to you by Keenan Reid Strategies

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