For Executives
Executive career – how to find your next step?
Are you looking for new opportunities in your career or simply trying to enhance your visibility in the job market?
Taking the next step is always a high-impact decision on a personal level. It requires careful reflection on who you are as a leader and what you want to achieve in your career. Before embarking on a job search, we believe executives should identify why they are looking to make a career change.
Understanding and specifying the reasons behind the desire to find a new role will help you in finding the right job that also meets your needs. After that, you can start to enhance your marketability.
As everyone has a unique set of competencies, needs, and changing situations, please be aware that the next potential job opportunity for you might come along within a few days, several months, or even a year or two.
Here at Chief, we want to help you to get started. As we have a limited possibility for dialogue outside our ongoing search processes, we have listed below some tips to help you when considering the next step in your career.
Chief’s tips for boosting your executive career
1. Reflecting and crafting your story
From our point of view, reflection is the most important first step in finding the best possible career move. Take some time to reflect on your current or most recent role to better understand your achievements, things that motivate you, and the opportunities for development.
Ask yourself what you accomplished during your time in the role, what specific projects or initiatives you enjoyed the most, and how you grew both professionally and personally. In addition to assessing your strengths and areas of growth, consider what your role may have been missing. Were there any areas or responsibilities that you wished you had the chance to explore further?
Taking the time for self-reflection and introspection can be incredibly valuable.
By being honest with yourself about past setbacks, your limitations, and areas for growth, you can take proactive steps to improve your skills and become an even stronger leader. While putting your personal story into words, don’t try to hide the past bumps on the road, but put into words what you learned from them.
After crafting your reflective story, try it out with a close relative or a friend and ask for feedback. A great career story tells where you started, what did you achieve and how, what was hard, and what you’ve learned from all of this. Ultimately, the process of reflection, self-examination, and crafting your story can help you build confidence in your abilities, gain a clearer sense of your unique value proposition, and become more effective in your next leadership role.
2. Focus on delivering results and look at the big picture
If you are currently holding a leadership position, one of the most valuable insights for your career development is to focus on your current role and deliver results. You should have complete ownership of your responsibilities and continuously aim higher. This way you will invest in your position, and you are more likely to achieve set goals and make an impact on the organization. Great accomplishments result in a great reputation and career development.
However, it is also important to look forward. From time to time, candidates approached by executive search consultants are not willing to proceed in the search process because they feel like they would leave the company at the wrong time, they would let down colleagues and team members, or they feel like they still have a lot to achieve in their current position. These are all valid reasons not to pursue new career opportunities, but remember to have the courage to truly assess your current role. Extend your analysis beyond your individual role and achievements, encompassing an evaluation of industry trends, your employer's strategy, and the stakeholders around you. Base your assessment not solely on how you feel but also on factual data. This comprehensive evaluation, even if it leads to staying in your current role, provides a clearer trajectory for your career.
The ability to do both at once is well described in a metaphor created by Professors Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky from Harvard Kennedy School (2002). They introduced the idea of "getting off the dance floor and going to the balcony." This metaphor draws a comparison between actively delivering on daily work (being on the dance floor) and taking a step back to look at the big picture (being on the balcony). According to Heifetz and Linsky, leaders who can seamlessly navigate between these two perspectives simultaneously are the most successful.
3. Learning & development
As a leader, it's important to continuously challenge yourself and seek out opportunities for growth and development. In addition to gaining new insights and developing new skills, you can broaden your perspective on how you see your career and possible next steps. A couple of effective ways for learning and development are having a mentor or a coach, attending to industry events and seminars, and studying.
Mentorship and coaching can be valuable tools for leaders who want to grow, develop, and achieve their full potential. Depending on their specific needs and goals, a leader may choose to seek out either a mentor or a coach, or both, to help them achieve their desired outcomes.
Mentorship is a long-term relationship where a more experienced individual (the mentor) provides guidance, advice, and support to a less experienced individual (the mentee). Mentors can help leaders navigate complex challenges and decisions, drawing on their own experiences to provide guidance and advice. Mentors can offer a sounding board for ideas and provide feedback on strategies or plans.
Coaching is a more structured and short-term process, where a trained coach works with an individual (the coachee) to help them identify goals, overcome obstacles, and achieve their full potential. Coaches can help leaders clarify their goals and identify the actions they need to take to achieve them. Coaches can help leaders overcome limiting beliefs or behaviors that may hold them back.
Industry events, seminars, and studies are also especially useful for any leader seeking new opportunities. Nowadays there are several online courses and seminars you can attend at low cost or even for free. It is common for an executive to go through an executive MBA to update their knowledge and gain insights into modern research. Learning opportunities are limitless!
Don’t forget to check our new learning program tailored for CEOs - CEO 360. Together with Henley Business School, we have created a value-adding way for the CEO to take a leap in their leadership learning journey!
4. Board & Advisory Board
One way of boosting your career is serving on a board of directors or advisory board which can provide valuable experience and exposure for helping you to develop your skills, build networks, and explore new opportunities for growth and development.
Acting as a board member will expose you to new perspectives and ideas as you will be working closely with other industry leaders. Board work can also challenge your strategic thinking and decision-making skills when making high-level decisions that affect the direction of the company. Serving on a board can also expose you to new industries or sectors you may not have been previously familiar with. This can expand your skillset and knowledge base, making you a more attractive candidate for future leadership positions.
According to our research (04/2023) on Finnish CEOs, more than 15% of the new CEOs in 2021-2022 were found from the same company’s board of directors.
In other words, almost every sixth new CEO knows the company already as a board member. In addition to mentioned fast-track opportunity to the CEO role, board experience is a great way to boost one’s experience in strategic leadership.
All in all, it is not an overstatement to say that the board experience is a great way to increase your chances of finding a new senior level leadership responsibility.
5. Networking
If you're open to new career opportunities, it can be helpful to reach out to trusted individuals in your network who may be able to offer support and guidance. Board members, investors, CEOs, and other C-level executives are often well-connected and may be aware of upcoming opportunities that could be a good fit for your skills and experience. Investing into your immediate personal network has the best return on your time and effort investment.
Additionally, executive recruiters may also be valuable contacts to reach out to, as they often have access to a wide range of job openings and can provide insights into the hiring process. By confiding in these trusted individuals, you may be able to gain access to new opportunities and take your career to the next level.
You are welcome to network with our consultants. Find our contact info through here: our people
6. Visibility
It's important to make your achievements and career progression visible to potential employers or collaborators. Take some time to reflect on your career and update your CV and LinkedIn profile to showcase your skills, experience, and accomplishments.
Consider highlighting areas where you believe you could bring value to your next position, as this can help attract the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. Start by asking yourself: what are the business challenges I’m excellent in solving?
By effectively presenting your major accomplishments and unique strengths, you can increase your chances of finding new and exciting opportunities for growth and advancement.
And if you’re more actively looking for new opportunities within a relatively short time frame, making an outstanding LinkedIn posting is a considerable idea to create new leads effectively. Make it personal, brave, and positive – authenticity stands out.
7. Taking a career step – how to choose the right role and company?
After you have put an effort into finding the next career step, you will be approached with different opportunities. When new opportunities arise, it is critical to take the time to reflect on whether it would be the right move for you in your career. A good career move should offer a 30% nonmonetary increase consisting of some combination of job stretch (a bigger job), a mix of more satisfying work, better work/life balance, a job with more impact, and one with a faster multiyear growth rate (Lou Adler, Hire With Your Head, 2022). Reflect what do you truly value in your work and in your working environment and compare your current situation with the new opportunity. If the 30% nonmonetary increase is not there, you probably should reconsider. Changing a job solely based on compensation is often not the right long-term solution.
We hope you found these tips useful. New senior-level management positions are often not open to the public, so we encourage you to leverage and grow your personal network and actively develop your skills.
In the end, it’s a math game and a people game – the more visible and preferred you are, the more opportunities you will eventually get.
In conclusion, finding a new job as an executive can be a challenging but rewarding process. By reflecting on your career and main achievements you can increase your chances of finding your dream job. We wish you the best of luck with finding the best possible career step!