The man on the coin and the oldest personal branding strategy in history

His goal was to conquer the world. Yours may be smaller. But the strategy is the same.

Look at that coin.

You may not recognize him immediately. But this face was once the most recognized image across three continents, from Greece to Egypt to the edges of India. It appeared on coins that traveled everywhere. Markets. Military camps. Royal courts. Millions of people who would never meet this man knew exactly who he was and what he stood for.

His name was Alexander. And in an age without internet, television, or printing press, his face and his story were known across the world.

His goal was to conquer the world.

Yours is probably more specific. A promotion. A bigger role. More say in the direction of your company. Recognition for the work you are already doing.

But 2,300 years ago, Alexander understood something about visibility and influence that many professionals today never think about strategically.

What Alexander actually did

Alexander didn’t just conquer territory. He understood that how people perceived him was just as important as what he actually did.

So he made a decision many professionals never make: he took control of his own image, deliberately, confidently and with his next step already in mind.

He hired Lysippus, the most famous sculptor of his time, to create his official portrait. The image was always the same: young, intense, visionary, slightly larger than life. Not a false image. A forward-facing one. He claimed to be descended from Achilles and Heracles. Then, for good measure, he added Zeus as his father. As a personal branding story, “son of a god” is hard to beat. And we are absolutely not suggesting you try.

Was his image carefully constructed? Absolutely. Was it effective? He conquered most of the known world by the age of 32.

And here is the key insight: Alexander didn’t invent a false identity. He took what was real… his vision, his ambition, his ability to lead… and projected it boldly and strategically, always one step ahead of where he actually was.

That is not fakery. That is exactly what good personal branding looks like.

Social psychology would only name it centuries later: impression management. Source: Erving Goffman, 1959, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. The strategic, intentional shaping of how others perceive you. Alexander just did it first, and better than almost anyone since.

2,300 years later, the science agrees

This is where it gets interesting.

Neuroscience shows that when people perceive you as valuable, it lights up their brain’s reward system. Source: Izuma et al., 2008, Neuron. You become someone they are drawn toward. Someone they trust. Someone they think of when an opportunity arises.

Perception shapes possibility for you.

Alexander understood this without a single brain scan. He acted on it consistently, strategically and with the full force of a 4th century military empire behind him.

You may not have an empire. But you do have LinkedIn.

Now, be honest with yourself for a moment. You do excellent work. You are good at what you do. And you probably assume that speaks for itself.

Research shows that most professionals trust that good work speaks for itself, women especially. Sources: Guadagno & Cialdini, 2007; Exley & Kessler, 2019. Unfortunately, your work is rarely loud enough on its own. That is not a reflection of your value. It is simply how perception works.

A real story

Name changed to protect privacy.

What happened to Mariska

Mariska was already doing excellent work. She was good at her job, respected by her team, and quietly building expertise that few people outside her direct circle knew anything about.

Then her company reorganized. Her team was taken away. She found herself in a smaller role and realized it was time to look for something new. She had always let her work speak for itself. Now she needed to learn to speak for it too.

As we worked on her personal brand, something interesting surfaced. Mariska had practically grown up on a sailing boat, taught by her father from a young age. She was still sailing.

She was the captain of her own boat.

She just hadn’t thought that was relevant.

Then she started sharing stories on LinkedIn. Not corporate updates. Real stories. About what she had learned from sailing, about navigating uncertainty, about leadership in complex situations.

The moment her coin started circulating

People stopped her at the grocery store. Parents of her children’s friends said: “I saw your post, I loved it.” Colleagues she barely knew started asking questions. And then her manager called her in for a meeting.

Not to warn her.

To talk about her future.

Mariska had not reinvented herself.

She had simply found a strategy to make who she really was visible to the world beyond her desk.

Alexander did it with bold, deliberate strategy. Mariska did it with humor, sharp observations and the occasional practical tip about sailing in a storm.

Same principle. Very different empires.

She had found her coin. And she put it into circulation.

So what does your coin look like?

Alexander was meticulously intentional about every detail of his image. Nothing was left to chance.

You don’t need to claim to be related to a god. But it is worth asking whether the people who could open doors for you actually know what you stand for.

And here is the thing: many professionals have never stopped to ask themselves that question.

Three questions to start

1. How do you want to be perceived beyond your job title?
   You may be a software engineer by title. But perhaps you are really the person who understands customers so deeply that you spot opportunities others miss entirely. Or you are the project manager who is less a planner and more a diplomat. Someone who patiently bridges differences, aligns people who see things differently and keeps everyone moving toward the same goal even when the road gets complicated. That is a very different story than your job title tells.
2. Is that how others currently perceive you? And if not, what is the gap?
   How do the people around you… your manager, your colleagues, the leaders above you… actually see you right now? If there is a gap between how you see yourself and how others see you, that gap is exactly where your personal brand work begins.
3. What is one story that shows your value in a way that a list of skills never could?
   The moment you spotted a risk nobody else saw, and what happened because you acted on it. The time you brought two teams together who had been working against each other for months. The project that was heading off the rails until you changed the conversation.

Those stories are your coins. And right now, most of them are sitting in your pocket.

Alexander won his campaign. When do you start yours?

Alexander did not wait to be discovered. He put his face on the coins and made sure they circulated.

You don’t need to conquer the world. But how others perceive you shapes your possibilities. The question is whether you leave that to chance, or do what Alexander did 2,300 years ago.

Put your own face on your own coin.

So… what does your coin look like?