Episode 34 4 Expert Ways To Find Your Next Leadership Job

Speaker: 00:00:04

Welcome to Unstuck and Unstoppable,

the podcast for ambitious female

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leaders who want to create more impact,

income, and influence in their careers.

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feel connected to their passion

and purpose, but without

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selling out or burning out.

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I'm Sarah Archer, a leadership coach

and career strategist, helping women

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like you thrive in leadership roles

while staying true to your values.

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I'm the founder of CareerTree

Coaching and have over 15 years of

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coaching experience and significant HR

leadership experience to share with you.

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I know as a female leader it can

be hard to find time to focus

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on your career aspirations.

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The day job can be all consuming.

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Plus, no matter how senior you are,

there are always going to be times

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when you feel stuck, when you have

self doubt, or feel like an imposter.

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And that's where unstuck

and unstoppable comes in.

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Each week I'll be sharing practical

strategies, insightful interviews and

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inspiring stories to help you boost

your confidence, lead with purpose

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and achieve sustainable success.

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If you're ready to stop playing

small and unlock the incredible

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potential you have within you and feel

unstoppable, you're in the right place.

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Let's get started.

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Welcome to episode 34.

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Really glad you're here.

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Today we're talking about four expert

ways to find your next leadership role.

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I thought it would be a great reminder

about what you can do to enhance

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your success, to set yourself up for

success in your job search, because

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the more senior you become, the

more challenging it becomes to find

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the right leadership role for you.

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Because obviously there are less

roles around 'cause you're getting

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close to the top of the pyramid.

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There are less roles and there's

more competition for those roles.

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And often a lot of those

roles are not advertised.

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They're in that 70% of

the hidden job market.

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They might be advertised at a

later date, but the positioning

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for them might be going on in

that hidden space, if you like.

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And that can mean it can feel

more challenging to find an

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exec role, a leadership role.

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I know that this is something that

resonates for you, that it is more

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challenging to find that leadership role.

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And that can leave you feeling

frustrated with the whole process,

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but also unsure about how best

to approach your job search.

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I've been a career coach, career

leadership coach now for 16 years.

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I've worked with a

number of female leaders.

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Some of whose story I'll be sharing a

little bit today who have navigated that

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whole exec leadership job search piece.

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Successfully have to say.

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I'm gonna share these four

strategies with you today.

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Now, none of these strategies

are rocket science.

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You will know them already, so they're

a good reminder, but b, a good check-in

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because if you are not utilizing them,

if they're not part of your current job

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search strategy, it's good to just check

in why they're not so are they not?

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Because you've got some

self doubt going on about.

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Where you are heading next.

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Maybe you don't have that clarity or

self-doubt about your ability and you

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are holding yourself back in some way.

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Is there some fear going on?

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So as I'm running through the

four strategies , is that bringing

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up some fear about failure?

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Some fear about getting out there

that you need to work through?

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Or is it a lack of knowledge?

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Is it thinking I just don't

know how to go about that.

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So doing a check-in with yourself

around those three things.

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Is it fear, self-doubt or knowledge

that's stopping me utilizing these.

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The first one is to harness the

power of your professional network.

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Because personal referrals are

one of the most common ways

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that execs find their next role.

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You know when you are recruiting, so if

you're a board member recruiting or a

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member of the senior team recruiting or HR

recruiting or exec headhunter recruiting,

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you are gonna be thinking about who's

in your personal network already, who

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would be great for that senior role so

that you can maybe start nudging them.

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You can start encouraging them to think

about applying or getting themselves

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ready to put an application in.

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So you want to be.

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On their radar.

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You want to be in their sphere.

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They want to be thinking about you when

they're thinking about who is gonna be

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really great for that role that we've got.

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And even though that job might go on to be

advertised, that positioning about who's

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gonna be really great for it will also

be foremost in the recruiter, the board.

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The panel's mind.

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So they're already a step ahead of

somebody who's coming at it cold.

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What we want to be thinking about is, are

you plugged into your industry network?

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Are you actively communicating

with your network?

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Are you actively engaging

with your network?

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Are you letting them know that

you are ready for that next move?

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Are you letting them know

what you are looking for?

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Do you think you are top of mind

with the people who will be making

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decisions about the role that you

want in the organization, that you

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want, in the industry, that you want?

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Now if you're thinking my network,

I'm certainly not doing anything

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in my network at the moment.

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Don't panic, it's not too late because

. The job search process for senior

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roles takes longer because there are

fewer roles, and also the interview

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process can be a number of stages.

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You are thinking probably it's

gonna take you six months or

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so to find that next role.

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So you've got time to activate your

network, to build it further and to start

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really engaging with the right people.

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You can be thinking about using LinkedIn.

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It's a great professional

networking space.

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You can think you'd be reaching

out for informational interviews

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with people in the industry.

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You can be thinking about regular

contact with ex colleagues, ex bosses.

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You can be thinking about going

to industry, networking events or

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conferences or places where you

will be able to make new contact.

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And you can be thinking about getting

strategic, like who are the people

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that I really want to get on their

radar and start to actively engage

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and think about how you can build your

network with them, what you can do to

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support them, how you can help them.

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I had a client that I was working with

a couple of years ago now, and she

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was a director of customer success.

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She wanted to make a bit of a pivot

in her career and so she started

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connecting and engaging with her network.

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She started utilizing LinkedIn to

have some conversations with people

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about what she was interested

in to try and narrow down.

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What she wanted, and she actually

found her next role via a boss that

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she'd worked with two organizations

previously who'd moved to join a large

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organization that was creating a new

company within their, group, and it

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was a startup for them, and they needed

somebody who could come in and set up

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their customer success and their customer

experience function, and he immediately

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thought of her and because she'd been

actively in her network talking about

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looking for a new role, he knew she was

available, she was thinking about moving,

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she has started to go through the

interview process, but she was

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successful at getting that new role

and going into this really exciting

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startup within a wider group structure.

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So thinking about who do I need to be

connecting with, and if this is bringing

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up the heebie-jeebies for you, just think,

oh, I really look great at networking.

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Just need to drill down and explore

that a bit more and work out what

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is going on, how you could do it

in a way that feels good for you.

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Step two is connecting with

executive recruiters and

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headhunters in your industry.

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Because similar to your network,

you want to get on their radar.

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You want to be building relationship

with them, you want to be trying

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to have a coffee with them so that

you are going to be top of mind

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for them when they are given the

brief to find that senior person.

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For that organization.

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They can be really helpful in

your job search because they're

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going to advocate for you.

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They're going to be interested in

supporting you at this level because

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their business is all about relationships.

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It's all about who do they know?

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Who's going to be a great person

to put in front of their client.

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So they will be open to having

those conversations with you.

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Now, if you're not sure where to

start, then you can ask your network.

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Again, plugging into your network.

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It's a great conversation starter.

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Who are the great headhunters?

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Who are the great exec

recruiters to work with?

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You can ask the recommendations.

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You can also check out

your current company.

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Who would they use if they were

going to recruit a senior role.

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You can have a chat with your

HR team, find out who they

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would recommend as recruiters.

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You can also think about recruiters

you might have been using in the past.

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If you've got a good relationship

they placed you previously, then

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you could also talk to them about.

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Are they working now at

maybe that next level?

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If not, who would they recommend and

just start to build that relationship.

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I had a client, she was a finance

director and she had found her

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current role through a recruiter.

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So she had a really good relationship

with a recruiter previously.

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They were also recruiting in

her current company for an

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md, and she was on the panel.

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So she built a great relationship

with the head hunter they were

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using for that particular role,

but she knew she wanted to move.

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So she kept building those relationships

and then when she was ready, she let

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, both of those recruiters know that she was

looking and , one of them had a role for a

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finance director in a different industry.

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That was really exciting for her,

and because she'd got that great

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relationship, they then put her forward

and they were able to advocate for

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her about why even though the industry

was different, she would be a great.

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Fit for this particular organization.

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And she subsequently went

on and got that role.

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So although it was out of industry

she was based in the north and

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they were recruiting in that area.

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So they were really

great advocates for her.

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Again, it's thinking about do

I know headhunters, recruiters?

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Am I talking to them and I'm

building relationships with them?

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And if not, what do I need to

do to get onto their radar?

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Step three is positioning yourself

as a thought leader in your field.

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And to be honest with you, this is

something you should be doing as part

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of your career strategy anyway, not

just when you are job searching, but

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if you haven't been doing it, it's a

good time as any, because if you're

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thinking it might take six months.

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To get my next role.

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I've got six months to start building

that industry reputation if it's

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not there for you at the moment.

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Recruiters often will source potential

candidates from who they're seeing

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in industry publications, who's

being asked to comment, who's writing

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for them who's speaker at industry

events or similar director is.

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It's definitely worth thinking

how am I sharing my personal brand

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outside my current organization?

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And if you're not, how could you?

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And it's doing it in a way

that feels authentic to you.

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So thinking about do I like.

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Public speaking, do I want to have

the opportunity to do some presenting,

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finding keynote speaker gigs,

looking for opportunities to speak at

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networking events, industry events,

maybe being on a panel discussion just

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having the opportunity, maybe doing

some lunch and learns for not just

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your current company, but maybe your

membership body, something like that.

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Or if you prefer perhaps writing, thinking

about could I start doing some writing

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for a publication or getting onto the

radar of some journalists that I could

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do some comments on particular issues.

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So that kind of thing.

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You can also be thinking again about

using LinkedIn as a way of showcasing

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your thoughts, your opinions through

sharing articles, writing articles.

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Commenting and getting

involved in group discussions.

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So you are , getting in front

of your network again, and they

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can see your voice, they can

understand your reputation.

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, Thinking what you want to be

known for and how's the best

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way for you to communicate that.

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And again, this can bring up,

'cause obviously we're talking

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about visibility and brand.

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This can bring up some fears.

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Around doing this.

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Understanding if you're feeling

resistant to doing this part of the

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strategy, thinking about what's going

on and what do I need in order to

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feel confident to be more visible

and become more of a thought leader.

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, I had a client that I worked

with a couple of years ago.

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She was a marketing manager.

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She wanted to become a head

of marketing and she really

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embraced the thought leadership.

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Did she really?

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Relish the opportunity, so took a

lot of different approaches to it.

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She looked for podcast guest

opportunities around female leadership.

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She worked in ed tech, so she

was specifically looking in

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that industry for opportunities.

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She started writing some

articles on LinkedIn.

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She started talking about her approach

to leadership, and she started

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positioning herself in terms of.

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Her approach to leadership

within the EdTech space.

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And so , when she then made that move

and she did make a move into a head

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of marketing role, the organization

that recruited her had lots of great

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information and sense of who she

was as a candidate when she then

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went for the job, that she was then

successful in making that moving to.

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She really embraced that opportunity

to become a thought leader.

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And she's still doing it now, and she's

now moved into a marketing director role.

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Step four is to optimize your

LinkedIn profile so that headhunters

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and recruiters can find you.

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If you're not being approached about

open roles at the moment, it could

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be that your LinkedIn profile is not

really working for you and to be honest,

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a lot of those don't pay attention.

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I do because I'm a cricket edge, but

a lot of clients I work with don't pay

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attention to their LinkedIn profiles.

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And if you haven't thought about whether

it's optimized for keywords, key skills.

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For the job that you want to be found

for not your current job, but the job

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you want to be found for, then it could

be that you're just missing a trick

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for not appearing in search results.

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In your headline, in your about section,

in your experience, in your skill section,

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your recommendations, just doing a, an

audit to see am I actually showcasing.

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Myself as a potential client for the

role that I want to be stepping into.

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And if you wouldn't shortlist yourself

based on the LinkedIn profile, then

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obviously that's giving you good

information about what you need to do

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to make your LinkedIn profile stand out.

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I had a client who, she was the director

of operations and she really wanted

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to be a chief operating officer.

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And as part of the coaching program,

she was on part of it was looking at her

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LinkedIn profile and when we looked at

it, we could see nowhere in there was she

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talking about Chief Operating officer.

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She might have been picks up potentially

'cause she was director ops, but it

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wasn't really helping her to stand out

as a potential candidate for a COO role.

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And so we did some very easy

tweaks to help her then stand

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out as a potential candidate for.

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Those roles.

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Because we know executive job search

can take longer because there's less

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role and the interview process takes

longer, you can be thinking about

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setting yourself up for success now by

thinking about those four strategies.

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Leveraging your professional

network, building it if you need to.

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Getting on the radar of those headhunters

and executive recruiters to become a

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thought leader and look for opportunities

where you can be seen to be demonstrating

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the knowledge, the reputation that you

want to be known for, and doing the simple

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thing of optimizing your LinkedIn profile.

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You're going to be setting yourself up

better for success, finding that net.

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Leadership role.

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I would say the key takeaway from

today, because all those strategies,

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is to think about where am I with them?

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If I did an audit of what I'm actively

doing now, where am I with them and

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what do I need to be doing to increase

or optimize those four strategies?

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And also, if I'm not doing them or

any of them for whatever reason,

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understanding what is holding you back,

what is getting in the way for you,

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and then being able to take action to.

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Ready that.

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Now if any of these you are feeling,

gosh, I really need some help with these

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areas, then do book in for a free call

with me where we can understand what's

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going on and we can devise a strategy to

make sure that you are able to optimize

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and move forward successfully in these

areas to set yourself up for success

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to get that next leadership role.

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Thank you so much for listening

to this episode of the Unstuck

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and Unstoppable podcast.

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I have lots of free resources you

can access on my website, ww.career

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tree coaching.co

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uk, and I'll also put

links in the show notes.

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If you found this episode

helpful, then please subscribe

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so you don't miss the next one.

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And please do share it with a

friend and leave me a review

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and I will personally thank you.

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Remember, you're capable of more

than you know, shine brightly.

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Lead boldly and unlock the

extraordinary potential within you.

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Be unstoppable.