Executive Career Articles

Get the inside scoop for executive who want to plan their next move. Karen gives you a fresh perspective in a crisp, straight-to-the-point format. 

• Why Most Executive Branding Advice is Simply Wrong - Part I I
  

  Last fall, I sent you an article describing how personal branding began, what the definition of personal branding is and how personal branding works.

  In this article, I want to share with you some more concepts about marketing and branding as they relate to personal branding that I think have been misunderstood, have created confusion, and, most importantly, muddied the waters about what one should and shouldn't do to market themselves.

• Why Most Executive Branding Advice is Simply Wrong - Part I
  

  I recently read an article from a career professional that had my head shaking and my voice screaming, "No-o-o-o-o-o!"

  The author presented several simple steps to develop an executive brand, proposing that within 30 minutes you could design a personal brand that would magically work. By answering just five easy questions, an executive would have a personal brand that would make recruiters fall all over you. Voila!

  But that's not how to market yourself as an executive.

• Three Stages of Leadership that Provide Corporate Economic Value
  

  In this article, I explore three stages, or levels, of leadership development based upon my almost twenty years of executive leadership and coaching. First and foremost, becoming a leader is a very personal journey. Leadership skills and motivations develop and change over time, progressing through three key stages. Each stage includes rites of leadership passage, different motivators and drivers, and sign posts. These rites shift and when they do, it indicates that one is ready to move forward into the next stage.

• Pathway to the Top CxO Role
  

  In a recent phone meeting Jared asked me, "I know that everything is changing rapidly due to today’s market. What skills do I need to get myself ready for a C-Suite role in three to five years?

  Jared is a classic example of professional leaders today who have a desire to move up in their organization. For Jared and others who are taking a proactive approach to their careers, here are the three master skills that will put them on the path to the CxO role.

• Five Essential Moves That Are Happening Right Now in the Executive Job Market!
  

   

  The challenge executives face today in their career search boils down to one thing -- finding leads.

  It is vital that you find and contact hiring leaders, turn your contacts into exploratory interviews, and keep in touch with leaders so that you can be first in line when the freeze lifts.

  But achieving this requires much more than it did in the past.  You must be more creative and innovative in your job search than ever before.  .

• 4 Steps to Launching a $100K Executive Level Job Search Campaign That Gets You Hired in a Recession
  

  Part 1 of 3 part series on "How to Launch an $100K+ Executive Career Search When Jobs Are Hard to Find in a Recession"

  Joy Andrews lost her position as a $100K+ executive about three months ago.  Devastated, Joy took some time off to clear her head and get ready for her executive level job search campaign.  But now, months later, she hasn’t had many interviews and prospects are bleak. Her question to me was, "What can I do to get myself to get more interviews and get hired faster?"

  Click on this article to read more...

• The 3 Mistakes Every $100K+ Executive Makes When Looking for Job Leads
  

  Question:  Would you be interested in an executive job search system that would guarantee feedback so that you could improve your results?

  Answer:  Of course you would.

  In this article, I share with you the top three mistakes every $100K+ executive makes and how to avoid them when looking for job leads. I also show you how to change your approach so that you can measure your results every step of the way.

• $100K+ Executive Job Search: 7 New Secrets to Finding Your Next Executive Level Position in 90 Days
  

  Doug Compton, a laid off 43-year-old operations executive, was frustrated. His efforts to find a new six figure executive role had resulted in only two interviews in six months. And, although he’s growing his list of contacts, Doug’s networking hasn’t resulted in any real job leads, either.

   Doug was used to finding a job quickly but that was over 10 years ago, and based upon his results this time around, he knew he had to change his strategies.  "But to what?" he asked himself.

• Recession Trap vs. Recession Opportunity
  

  Recession may or may not be upon us. It really doesn't matter if it is or isn't because when we know it will be too late. Instead, executive must focus on how to grow organizations and build revenue streams regardless of their functional role. 

• 7 Tips to Career Preparedness in a Slowing Economy
  

  The first half of the year will experience a slowdown in hiring but that doesn't mean that executive recruiting will cease. Execunet reports that their job postings are robust for executives. Segments will have it harder than others - financial services, retail, and consumer goods - but others will use this downturn to use their resources to hire the very best.  To make your move this year, you will have to do your homework and make a clear, concrete plan. Good talent will always find opportunities as long as they are prepared. 

• Innovation and Talent -- Recession Busting Strategies for Big and Small Companies
  

  Talent, based on definition, is very different from skills, expertise, position, or function. It is the ability to leverage knowledge, skills, and abilities to achieve current business objectives and goals. Talent is more about potential. And as we move deeper into the Creative Economy, executive roles and requirements will more align with potential - of an individual and company -- rather than just a functional role one holds.

• Presenting Your Executive Potential
  

  Executives who desire to make their next career move must do the deep introspective work that causes them to be a Thought Leader.  To position yourself as a Thought Leader means that you must understand your potential within these concepts rather than recite your past as if it was special.  Your past may be great but it is in the past!

• Hot Property: Why Executive Thought Leaders Are "In"
  

  Did you know that the Thought Leader executive is one of the most heavily-recruited and sought-after top talent today? The problem is that many executives think they are Thought Leaders.  But given my research, many do not understand this definition.

• Personal Branding: Standing Out from the Crowd
  “Did you know that the executive who is considered a thought-leader is one of the most heavily-recruited and sought-after top talent today? The problem is that many executives think they are thought-leaders.”
• e-Lancers: Moving Beyond The Knowledge Worker
  

  Within the Vertical Disintegrated Organization (VDO), the idea of knowledge workers is inadequate for today’s organizational needs.  The term “knowledge worker” means that individuals were able to use technology in their respective field of specialization.  The dialogue about “retraining” is also insufficient – it presumes the past definition for knowledge workers and focuses heavily upon continued creation of specific specialties (i.e. retrain manufacturing operators to become healthcare workers).

• Executive Assessments -- What do they measure?
  “Assessments are vital to individual leadership feedback.  However, relatively few measure whether a leader is truly leading.”
• A Challenging Experience Is The Greatest Teacher
  

  A recent poll asked 400 executives how they learned to lead and process of leadership development that they underwent as an executive.  The top three sources of developmental growth were reported as...

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