The drive to succeed is the hallmark of truly great business leaders. Those who strive to succeed within their industry stand out in their ambition and determination. But to achieve success, to become a leader within the field, a prospective CEO needs more that drive, determination, or ambition. Those who strive to succeed have worked hard to stay ahead of their competitors, earned postgraduate qualifications, and bring with them a wealth of experience which would make them a valuable leader in any company. The key for aspiring industry leaders is to put themselves on the radar of recruiters who can land them the leadership position they desire. So, how does an aspiring CEO put themselves on the radar? Counterintuitive as it may seem, you can’t simply rely on your CV when seeking the position you desire. In senior executive circles a strong CV is a given. It will simply be expected that anyone who wants to fill a senior executive position will have an excellent CV. So you need to develop a strategy to make yourself standout in other ways, so that recruiters will come looking for you. Two essentials to work on for anyone seeking to advance to a senior executive position are to maintain and grow your network, and develop a personal branding strategy.
Make Your Network Work For You
It’s a truth of the contemporary business world that networking is all important. This is especially true for anyone seeking senior executive level positions. It is important to constantly maintain and grow professional networks. Forging links with peers and building a good reputation within the industry are essential for anyone seeking to make the step up to a leadership position. Recruiters looking to fill senior executive positions want someone who is known to be one of the best in the field. Networking helps to ensure that your name is on that list. Getting yourself published makes you stand out as an authority and leads to invites to speak at industry events. Speaking at conferences and participating on panels builds your reputation among peers, and makes your name pop up on the recruiter’s radar. Maintaining your network also allows you to hear of openings and opportunities that are arising within your field, and having the respect of your peers will mean that your name is one that they will likely recommend for any vacancies that occur.
The Power of Personal Branding
Coupled with having a strong network is the importance of a strong personal brand. Personal branding promotes your strengths, achievements, qualifications, and qualities through attentive and targeted promotion of your professional profile. Personal branding consultants at King of CV, a leading CV writing and personal branding service in New Zealand, recommend maintaining a strong online presence as part of a personal branding strategy. “We recommend to our senior executive clients that they focus heavily on their LinkedIn profile so that recruiters can have easy access to their reputation for excellence. We also recommend they engage with social media, and especially to try and maintain a blog so that Google searches by recruiters will return their names.” A strong personal branding strategy promoted through social media will promote your status as a leader within your industry. A well written and well maintained LinkedIn profile and blog will enable you to display the strength of your expertise and your solid history of success, which will quickly gain the attention of corporate recruiters.
