This is a career coaching case study from one of our recent CIO/CTO level clients, a high level I.T. practitioner based in the USA. We asked a few questions about his experiences of working with us, and his answers follow:
My experience of working with Executive Connexions was that I primarily achieved having a “road map”, in order to connect with a broader set of role opportunities beyond my already-existing network of contacts.
Having read Reverse Headhunting and finding the approach interesting and deserving of further experimentation, which developed into a conversation with Executive Connexions MD, Steve Nicholls, which included how Executive Connexions presented both their services and pricing models.
I improved my understanding of market dynamics for senior roles, the difficulties/challenges and how much up-front work is required, in order to achieve the desired result.
A learning curve was that sometimes it is crucial to rely on others and ask for help. In my experience, so much of “being a leader” is presented throughout as a take-no-prisoners approach, “real men (or women) don’t apologize” and other outdated ideas, which I never really felt right with in the first place.
I also found that it takes much longer than anticipated to land your next ideal role, people’s attention span is close to nothing and time for personal/career reflection is a golden commodity.
I found that my goals have not so much changed, instead the change is in how to achieve them through continuous grooming of contacts and making connections on a continuous basis.
I now have a new role as Head of Systems group for a major US-based retailer in Restaurant and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) verticals.
My key advice to other senior executive colleagues would be; don’t wait until you need the next role — the (learning/networking) process should be ongoing (like flossing and regular medical check-ups!) as part of your day-to-day job.
Many thanks to our client for supplying these words (we know you’re thriving in the new role, so keep up the good work!). If you’d like to explore how we might help you in your career drop me a line at [email protected]
