For years, I have been leveraging context as an essential strategic driver in writing value-driven executive resumes, so it was refreshing to see a Harvard Business Review article take a run at this important topic.
“When choosing a CEO, boards typically take into account the particular circumstances the company faces: Is it in need of a turnaround, say, or will it be scaling for growth? For a CFO position, they might ask, Are we about to do an initial public offering, or are we planning to grow by acquisition? In such cases, boards generally favor candidates with direct experience leading organizations through the situation at hand,” according to the article, “When Hiring Execs, Context Matters Most.”
The same article, which extracts from a study by CEB, asserts that firms will be more successful if they identify “candidates whose personality attributes and experience are custom-tailored to the contextual challenges of the position.”
Of course, what may seem obvious to me after 20 years in the trenches consulting with and writing resume stories for CXOs and their direct reports, I realize, is not always obvious to everyone else, including the executives themselves.
That is why when I receive inquiries from execs itching to collaborate on stories that will position them for a bold leap away from recent experience at hand, it is necessary to discuss how we will position them, contextually.
For example, an expert at turnarounds may want to avoid another turnaround, such as a role with a company that has been creamed by the competition and is barely staying afloat. They are weary of the exhausting overhaul process, yet know their value can be leveraged in other ways. If leveraged artfully, their prior turnaround or ‘transformation’ leadership skill sets can be incorporated seamlessly to attract a new, different opportunity, where the company isn’t in a sink or swim scenario.
Stepping out of one transformation into another does not necessarily mean diving into a sea of financial red where business units are flailing and customers are abandoning ship. It can, however, mean that the executive will apply their turnaround learnings and well-honed strategic skill sets to an emerging organization that potentially will be slammed by the competition in the future, and use their strategic insights to help them avoid similar perilous outcomes, going forward.
By strategically positioning their turnaround stories into preventive solutions and forward-looking initiatives that will catapult the organization to new levels, the executive can start steering their career toward a new course without completely remapping their value proposition.
- This can include communicating how their turnaround leadership equips the executive with the vision into the reality of a hypercompetitive market and the need to continually fortify a company’s financial foundation.
- This may mean demonstrating initiatives in piloting large-scale, timely and quality-centric operational projects that spur multimillion revenue surges while also shearing millions in expenditures.
- It also may mean showing how continually innovating processes, products and programs, even when a company already is growing at a blistering pace, can serve as insurance from having to scrimp and sweat later, because you’ve let the competition gain ground while you basked in your success.
The strategy, therefore, is to leverage achievements and skill sets from the turnaround that will help reposition the executive, even if ever so slightly, to ‘turning around’ their career toward new, evolving opportunities that challenge the executive to grow and stimulate their passion.
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I am one of only 50 master resume writers and have crafted more than 1,500 career stories that put “your value into words.” My bachelor’s degree in writing/journalism allows me to apply a journalist’s eye to your career.
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