While you were working to build your company and career the rules changed in executive job search. To ramp up fast in this new paradigm, you need a career plan and a job search pursuit strategy, or you'll flounder and find yourself struggling to surface as your competitors are landing the jobs you want.
The 5-Power-Play C-Suite Career Plan is designed to help you navigate the murky waters of executive job search in today's perfect storm of economic turmoil, executive unease, and career stagnation.
Following these 5 power moves will help you find career success in up or down markets:
- Become the CEO of company YOU
- Brand to land (below)
- Get social
- Write tight
- New branded CareerCom
- Why-Buy-ROI
- Power Pitch Resume/Profile
Power Move #1 -- Become the CEO of company YOU
An effective CEO of Company YOU prioritizes career management as much as company management so scrambling to gain traction in job search is a non-issue…and with executive tenures shrinking to less than 3 years, every executive will be a chronic job seeker and career builder. (For more on this see part 1 of this series "Become CEO of Company YOU").
Power Move #2 -- Brand to Land
You’re a successful, unique, and inspiring leader, distinct from all others who do what you do. You’re a brand. And your brand is your career engine.
In fact, you’re the CEO of your brand, and no one cares like you do. Yet no matter how much you care, if you don’t know your brand and how to manage it, you’ve given control of your career to others! And the difference between the most successful executives and others is that successful executives don't allow others to control their brand.
The C-Suite has never been more competitive, more confusing, or more impactful. Responsibilities are huge, tenures are brief, and expectations from boards, stockholders, stakeholders, and the public seem to change every day.
Executives who aren't differentiated with platinum brands and value propositions have a harder time making a mark in their positions and making the short list when they are looking to land.
Yet even a platinum brand can't do it all without proof of performance– today you need a clear executive brand with an undeniable ROI value proposition. Follow these steps to brand-to-land!
1. Define, refine, and align your personal brand – clearly demonstrate who you are and what you're known for in everything you do. That's your baseline and what you need to clearly project at all times to be a consistent, trusted, and effective leader.
2. Take your personal brand further, to become your executive brand. An executive brand is about chemistry and ROI. It says who you are, what you're known for, what you do, what happens when you do it, and why a board, chairman, or CEO should care.
3. Tie your executive brand to very specific value that meets what the market needs NOW. That may mean changing the value message that has worked for you in the past. For example, if you're a turnaround expert, that's probably been a great brand for you. However, today, your most valuable asset may be just a piece of that turnaround skill -- that you're a whiz at "stopping the bleeding to save the company."
4. Decide what you offer that will be irresistible and differentiating in a market flooded with top-talent. Then promote yourself as the solution. Make a company salivate to get you on board with real-world understanding of their needs and an undeniable vision for how you will impact their success, backed up with proof points of your past accomplishments.
5. Clearly and consistently express your differentiation and its value in your “elevator pitch,” career documents, and daily leadership.
You're the face of your company and the master of your career. Today, more than ever, you want to be visible, viable, and valuable so your constituents trust your leadership and the market trusts you, too.
Bottom Line:
By building and tuning up your brand – your career engine -- you’ll be positioned to build premier companies with energized teams, attract great candidates for your company and “perfect fit” positions for yourself, and continually leverage your brand for a lifetime of career momentum and fulfillment.
Next month: Part three of our five-part series: Power-play # 3 – Get Social
© Copyright, 2010, Deb Dib. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About this author: Deb Dib, Job-Hunt's Executive Job Search Expert, has been a careers-industry professional since 1989. For the last few years, Deb has focused on coaching CEO's and other C-suite executives in finding their next opportunities. Deb is the founder of Executive Power Brand, and co-author of best-selling Twitter Job Search Guide, Find Your Ideal Job and Build Your Career in Just 15 Minutes a Day (March 2010, JIST). Connect with Deb at her website at www.executivepowerbrand.com, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/debdib, on Twitter at @CEOcoach, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DebDib, and via email at info at executivepowerbrand.com, or at 631-475-8513.
