National Powersport Auctions

Jeff Kinney

VP of Operations

370

LinkedIn Connections

395

LinkedIn Followers

Years of Press Coverage

RoleVP of Operations, National Powersport Auctions

Based inPoway, California

The 7 on 7+ Assessment

Professional Brand 7 on 7+ Score

Profile Score

10 / 49

Profile effectiveness as evidence of leadership thinking. Seven criteria, each scored 1 to 7. Built on methodology developed by Alan Power and Gair Maxwell.

IDEA Score

12 / 49

Power of your complete digital presence, including social, search, gen-AI - to generate PULL.

Profile Score

Tracks your profile effectiveness.

IDEA Adjustment

Adjusts for your complete digital footprint.

7 on 7+ Score

Your legend-building signal.

Category Leader

Scott Lukaitis

Profile

IDEA

Scott Lukaitis runs two weekly newsletters carrying more than 4,000 subscribers combined, on a profile Jeff Kinney's could start to match with an About section alone.

Executive Takeaway

Jeff Kinney scores 10 out of 49 on his LinkedIn profile and 12 out of 49 on his off-site signal, for a combined 12. The two halves point in different directions: seven years of independent trade press, including direct quotes and a produced video profile, describe a credible operator, while the profile itself carries no About section, no Featured content, and no original writing under his own name in two years. The gap between the two is the opportunity. Scott Lukaitis, the strongest peer in this comparison, built his authority the same way any of the three peers here did, by publishing consistently under his own name; Jeff has the press record already and has not yet built the profile to carry it.

Profile Score — By Criterion

Seven criteria, each scored 1 to 7 by Alan Power and Gair Maxwell. The sum is your profile score out of 49. Vistage room average: 13 to 14. A score above 20 is genuinely strong.

First Impression

Immediate 2-3 sec WOW factor. Instant clarity on who this profile speaks to.

The headline reads "VP of Operations at National Powersport Auctions," the same construction any operations leader at any company could use. Nothing states who the profile speaks to or what changes because of the work.

Impact

A signature asset. Genuine human connection, story-based rather than promotional.

No Featured section exists on the profile. Nothing built to be seen, shared, or referenced, video, a designed asset, or otherwise, appears anywhere.

Originality

A distinctive point of view. Instantly recognizable. Not category-standard advice.

There is no About section. The only words written in his own voice in two years are a single line reacting to someone else's post. No recurring phrase or point of view appears anywhere on the profile.

Culture

Real personal material indicating a full human. Not a credential list.

The About section does not exist, so there is no personal material of any kind to draw a full person from.

Consistency

Track record of publishing current, original content in a recognizable format.

In two years, one item carries his own words, a single sentence, now stale. Everything else on the profile is an unedited repost of a sister division's content, spaced four to seven months apart.

Audience Reach

Numbers indicating a growing community. Evidence of genuine engagement.

395 followers sit almost exactly at the 370-connection floor, meaning the profile has not reached beyond the people already connected to it. No recommendations and no contact path beyond a default message button appear anywhere.

Visuals

Cohesive visual elements reflecting personal brand. Distinctive design language.

The banner is a generic default graphic carrying no company or personal design. The photo itself is clear and professional, but nothing on the page reflects a considered visual choice beyond it.

IDEA Score — The Signal Before the Click

How He Shows Up in the World

The IDEA Score measures what happens before someone reaches his profile, the off-site signal that shapes perception from the first search, the LinkedIn scroll, the founder post.

out of 49

IDEA Score — Digital Footprint

The Idea That Changes Everything

Seven axes. Each one measures a different dimension of how your off-site signal lands, not what your profile says, but what the world hears before anyone clicks.

Pull vs. push. Category of one vs. category of many. A founder voice vs. a corporate signal. These are the levers that determine whether a prospect arrives already interested, or arrives already skeptical.

Pull vs. Push

Content creates gravity vs. broadcast/promotional

The visible footprint is three reposts of a separate NPA Europe account's content and one two-year-old reaction to someone else's post. Nothing published under his own name attempts to earn attention on its own.

ONLY vs. Category

Proprietary language/named POV vs. sounds like every competitor

Direct quotes attributed to him in the press, about operational excellence and strong auction attendance, use the same language any operations executive in the category would reach for. No phrase or framing belongs to him specifically.

Audience Building

Clear who it's for AND building following beyond buyers

With followers essentially equal to connections and no original content of his own, there is no evidence of reach beyond the people already in his network, and no defined reader being addressed at all.

Different-er vs. Better

Competes on distinctiveness/belief vs. features/specs/price

Press coverage describes him through tenure and scale: ten facilities, a well-run operation, a childhood spent riding dirtbikes. That is a resume, not a belief a reader could agree or disagree with.

IDEA vs. Best Practices

Organizing belief visible across all channels vs. channel-by-channel

A dealer-onboarding repost, a trade-in post, a facility-visit repost, and a one-line hydrogen comment share no thread connecting them. Nothing reads as one installment in something ongoing.

Founder/Leader Voice

Named human with consistent opinionated first-person presence

The one sentence that is unmistakably his is two years old. Every other visible post is a repost of company content with nothing added.

Cultural Relevance

Signal connects to a larger shift in the world vs. exists in isolation

Independent trade coverage exists and holds up: three Powersports Business articles across seven years, two carrying his direct quotes, plus a produced Dealernews video built around his own history with the sport. No speaking panels or board roles were found alongside it.

Digital Footprint Scan

Where He's Showing Up, and Where He's Not

Weak

395 followers and 370 connections, with no original posts under his own name in two years beyond a single stale reaction. Recent activity is limited to reposts of a sister division's content.

Trade Press

Active

Independent coverage from Powersports Business spans 2019 to 2026, with direct quotes in two articles, and a produced Dealernews video profile builds a personal narrative around his history with the sport.

Personal Site

Absent

No personal website or blog exists anywhere in the record.

Strategic Opportunity

How to Build His Legend

Short Term

Answer the BHOQ the press already answers in fragments

Seven years of independent coverage already describe an operator worth quoting on the record, a childhood spent riding dirtbikes, a decade running the category's largest network. The open question is not what to post next; it is settling who Jeff is beyond the title, in one line he can repeat himself.

Decide whether Jeff becomes the voice or stays the subject

Seven years of independent press coverage already treats him as a credible source. The open decision is whether he starts writing in his own words, or continues being quoted by others with no profile of his own to point them to.

Settle the story before touching the page

A default banner and an empty About section are symptoms, not the problem. Clarify work decides the signature story, the operational record plus the personal history the press has already surfaced, before any of it gets built into the profile itself.

Medium Term

Give the press record an Iconic Identity

A produced Dealernews profile and two Powersports Business quotes already exist, scattered across channels he does not control. Iconic Identity work pulls them onto the profile itself and builds the About and Featured sections around the same signature story Clarify settles on, not just a credential list.

Point Brand-Driven Growth at a defined reader

Right now nothing he posts addresses anyone directly. Brand-Driven Growth work names dealers, lenders, and the powersports trade press specifically as who the writing is for, turning a general operations record into a position a defined audience returns to.

Become the Media Company his record already earned

The press already covers him without being asked. Media Company work turns that into a publishing rhythm under his own name, tied to the facility openings and market reports he already has access to, so authorship replaces reposting.

Competitive Landscape

Who's Setting the Bar

Scott Lukaitis

Marketing & media leader, powersports and motorsports

Runs two weekly LinkedIn newsletters carrying a combined 4,189 subscribers, a rich first-person About section, and a personal photography business active since 2005.

Jason Gearld

Owner, Phoenix Handlebars

Publishes a recurring, distinctly voiced weekly job-listing series from his own site, reaching 3,289 followers with a recognizable, self-aware tone.

Tom Kontos

Former Chief Economist, ADESA US

Built a decade-long forecasting series, Kontos Kommentary, during his tenure at ADESA. The current profile, since his retirement from that role, carries no Featured content and little recent activity.

Jeff Kinney

Where the gap actually sits

Jeff's off-site press record, seven years of independent trade coverage with direct quotes, is stronger than his LinkedIn profile shows. The gap is not a lack of credibility; it is a profile that has never been built to carry it.

Market Context

Why This Is Harder, and Easier, Than It Used To Be

The advantage a real human carries over a company account is not theoretical anymore; it shows up directly in how B2B buyers say they decide. An operations leader with seven years of independent trade coverage already has the credibility executive-visibility research says buyers respond to. What is missing is the profile built to carry it.

10x

More reach an employee's own network carries than a company page's followers

LinkedIn, cited by DSMN8, 2026

6:1

Trust ratio favoring leaders with an active personal brand over those without

Brunswick, cited by DSMN8, 2026

53%

Of B2B buyers say thought leadership has directly influenced a purchase

Clearly PR, 2024

75%

Of executives explored a product they weren't considering after strong thought leadership content

Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 2024

What Keeps You Up at Night

The forces shaping Jeff Kinney's competitive environment, and why standing still is not an option.

📋

Being judged on a title instead of the record behind it

A visitor lands on "VP of Operations at National Powersport Auctions," words any operations leader at any auction company could use, with no About section or Featured content to say anything more. Seven years of independent trade coverage exist to back him up; none of it is visible from the page a recruiter, dealer, or reporter checks first.

Headwind

🔁

Losing the story to whoever posts about him instead

The only recent activity on the profile is a repost of a separate regional division's content, not his own words. Without a habit of publishing under his own name, the account of who Jeff is keeps coming from someone else's feed instead of his.

Headwind

🔍

Being harder to find than the coverage he already earned

Powersports Business and Dealernews have covered him directly across seven years, with two articles carrying his own quotes. Anyone searching his name off LinkedIn currently learns more about him than anyone searching on it, the reverse of what a profile is supposed to do.

Headwind

Where the Opportunity Lives

The same forces creating pressure are also creating openings for those willing to lead.

📰

A real press record to build from

Powersports Business has covered him directly across three articles from 2019 to 2026, two carrying his own quotes, and a Dealernews video already exists built around his personal history with the sport.

Tailwind

🤝

Buyers already respond to leaders who show up

53% of B2B buyers say thought leadership content has directly influenced a purchasing decision, and 75% of executives have explored a product after encountering strong thought leadership.

Clearly PR, 2024; Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 2024 Tailwind

📡

A personal account reaches further than a company page

An individual's network carries roughly 10 times the reach of a company page's follower count, a gap NPA's own 2,800-to-2,900-follower channels have not closed and Jeff's near-empty profile has not yet attempted to.

LinkedIn, cited by DSMN8, 2026 Tailwind

🔒

Unlock Your Full Roadmap

His Future-State Professional Brand

The moves above address what he can decide and build now. The full roadmap sequences Clarify, Identity, and Growth into a plan for closing the gap between the press record that already exists and the profile that has not yet caught up to it.

Phase 1

Clarify

Decide whether Jeff becomes the voice behind his own record, and settle what he wants to be known for beyond the operations title.

Phase 2

Identity

Build the About section and Featured content that finally give the profile something to show, starting with the Dealernews profile that already exists.

Phase 3

Growth

Establish a publishing rhythm under his own name and close the gap between what the press already says about him and what his own profile shows.

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