Charlotte Otter
Owning Your Story and Building Your Brand with Charlotte Otter Ep 267 - The Global Discussion
Charlotte Otter, a former journalist turned executive coach and founder of Otter Advisory, is in conversation with Host Simon Hodgkins on this episode of The Global Discussion. The topics include leadership, reputation, and what it really means to build trust in a world that never stops changing.
Charlotte's career has been anything but linear. Originally from South Africa and now based in Germany, she began her professional life in journalism before moving into corporate communications, where she spent years leading executive communication at SAP. Three years ago, she made the leap into entrepreneurship, founding her own advisory firm and completing a master's in change leadership through Oxford's Saïd Business School and HEC Paris. That combination of academic rigor and real-world insight has shaped her approach to leadership and communication today.
A New Era of Leadership
Charlotte's latest book, We Need New Leaders, takes a clear-eyed look at what she calls a "crisis of leadership." In the interview, she explains that traditional models of leadership, loud, dominant, and often masculine, are no longer serving us well. Instead, she argues for a new archetype that prizes empathy, adaptability, and curiosity.
"We need to crack open the door for a new kind of leadership," she says. "One that listens, includes, and leads with humility."
Her research for the book involved interviews with forty leaders from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented groups. What she found was striking: many of these leaders, having faced real obstacles on their paths, developed deeper self-awareness and empathy, which in turn made them stronger, more thoughtful leaders. That connection between self-knowledge and effective leadership became one of the book's central themes.
The Value of Reputation Equity
A significant thread throughout Charlotte's work is the concept of reputation equity, the idea that your reputation is an asset and a form of insurance against the unexpected.
For individuals, she explains, it's about owning your story and telling it openly. "It's not enough to just do a good job," she says. "That's only half the work. The other half is making sure people know what you've done, what you've learned, and what you stand for."
This message is particularly powerful for leaders from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds. By speaking out, sharing their journeys, and being visible online, they not only strengthen their own reputations but also create a bridge for the next generation to follow.
Reputation 360: Helping Leaders Find Their Story
In her coaching practice, Charlotte works one-on-one with executives through a program she calls "Reputation 360". The process involves deep interviews designed to uncover what truly motivates a leader, what they value, and how others perceive them. She listens closely for those "light-up" moments, stories, or memories that reveal authenticity and passion.
She recalls one client, a shy CFO promoted to CEO, who initially resisted public engagement. Through her process, Charlotte discovered that his peers viewed him as an innovator, not just a financial leader. Once he embraced that perspective, his confidence grew, his visibility increased, and he went from 300 LinkedIn followers to 10,000. Today, he's recognized as a thought leader in his field.
Beyond Adaptable: Building Reputational Moats
In both her book and her coaching, Charlotte stresses that reputation isn't something to manage only in crisis; it's something to cultivate consistently. The trust leaders build today acts as a reputational moat that protects them when challenges inevitably arise.
Her advice is straightforward. Start early. Be proactive. Use platforms like LinkedIn to share insights, lessons learned, and even failures.
Communicate regularly and with intention. Because, as she notes, if you only start communicating once the crisis hits, it's already too late.
The Art of Storytelling
Charlotte's background in journalism gives her a distinctive approach to storytelling. She believes every leader has the ability to tell compelling stories, and it doesn't require being a polished performer. It's about being real and specific.
"Humanize your experiences," she says. "Add the small details that make a story memorable. You don't have to be the best storyteller in the world, just a human one."
These details create the emotional connection that turns a message into something people remember.
Out Loud and Online
Charlotte also hosts her own podcast, "Speech Bubbles", which began as a companion to her book and has grown into a vibrant platform for conversations about leadership, communication, and change. Like her writing, the show reflects her curiosity and her journalist's instinct to explore how people think, lead, and evolve.
Final Thoughts
Charlotte closed her conversation with Simon Hodgkins with a reminder that applies to leaders at every level:
"Most of us don't have a PR person to tell our story. The onus is on us to build our own reputation."
It's practical advice in an era where visibility, authenticity, and integrity define the leaders people trust most.
About The Global Discussion
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