How to accelerate your accession to the best c-suite and board roles available

As an executive recruiter of over 20 years’ experience, I have coached and/or counselled literally thousands of senior executives regarding their aspirations to attain c-suite and board roles.  The vast majority of these people continue under the assumption that “if I am just really good at my job and work really hard, the opportunities will come to me”.  And whilst being excellent at one’s job is foundational to career success, I’m sure you have all witnessed some people’s careers skyrocketing, whilst equivalently skilled people’s careers seem dormant in comparison. Let’s take a look at two key strategies that you can implement to fast track your career and achieve your highest potential:

1. “Ask and thou shalt receive”
   If you are currently employed and enjoy the organisation you are working for, then it makes sense to explore internal opportunities prior to looking for another job.  Most employees pray that they will be promoted based on merit, yet few actually ask for what they want.  My suggestion is that you meet with your boss at the beginning of a period (say the start of a new year or a major project) and ask the question, “For you to be delighted to promote me to a more senior role/give me a $x pay rise/pay for me to complete an MBA (whatever your goal is), what would I need to specifically achieve for you in the next 3/6/12 months?”

   Get your boss to give you at least a few quantitative key deliverables that you are excited about and feel confident of achieving.  Of course, if they say they can’t accommodate what you want, then either find a compromise that is acceptable to you or at least you now know that its time to look elsewhere. Document the key deliverables, put a plan in place to achieve them, and report back consistently and proactively on your progress.  At the end of the period, then given you have fulfilled your end of the bargain, its time for your boss to as well.  Your boss wants to employ and retain high achievers, and you are demonstrating these qualities accordingly.

2. “Uncover the hidden job market”
   It is a commonly held belief that at least 80 percent of jobs never get to the open job market.  They are filled through the hidden job market.  This means that when employers identify someone that can solve their problems and take away their pain, they hire them, regardless of whether an actual vacancy existed or not. If you decide to change employers, in order to access these hidden jobs you need to get in front of your employers of choice before they know that they need you.  LinkedIn has made this much easier than was previously possible.  Once you have identified the employer, research who is the key decision maker that could hire you.  For example, earlier in your finance career your boss could be the CFO, however if you are looking for a CFO role then the appropriate contact would be the CEO or MD.  Find them on LinkedIn, send a connection request, and email them asking for a 15-minute introductory Zoom or Teams meeting.

   These people want to hire you, but they can’t if they don’t know who you are. Once you get in front of them, find out their challenges and use your key achievements and transferrable skills to demonstrate your ability to solve these for them.  If you do this consistently and proactively, you will find new job opportunities opening up for you far more quickly than you could possibly imagine.

   This is especially true for board roles, where I would estimate that at least 95 percent of vacancies never get to the open job market.  Whilst it is easy to appoint someone to a board, it can be quite challenging to get them off.  As a result, boards choose to recruit people they know and trust.  So follow the above strategy, however, focus on introducing yourself to the Chair of your target organisations.  Once you have met, stay in regular contact so that when a vacancy becomes available, you are the logical first choice.

Through implementing these two strategies, you can feel confident that you will greatly accelerate your career and achieve your highest potential, whether that is as a c-suite executive or a non-executive director.

Written by Richard Triggs.

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