How to Find Executive Leadership Roles: What Actually Works
- May 14
- 10 min read
I worked recently with a COO who was exceptionally technically gifted. By any measure, an outstanding leader. But from our very first conversation, she said something that stayed with me: "I don't talk about myself enough. I talk about the job."
She was right. And she knew it. So we dedicated a full session to doing exactly that. Looking honestly at where she felt she needed to grow, and at the areas where she genuinely excelled. Teasing out her real achievements. Rebuilding her confidence in what she was actually there to offer.
By the end of that session, she said: "I can really feel myself again."
That is what this work is. Helping people who have lost the thread of who they are professionally to reconnect with it. Not to invent something new. To rediscover what was already there.
Most executive career advice never gets close to that. It leads with job titles, CV formatting, and application tactics. It skips the thing that matters most: whether you actually know what you bring, and whether you can communicate it clearly to the right people. That is where I start with every client. And it changes everything that follows.
The Market You Cannot See: Why Executive Job Searches Work Differently
LinkedIn's own research found that around 70 percent of professionals were hired at a company where they already had a connection. At executive level, that figure skews even higher. Many senior appointments are shaped before a job description is ever written, through retained search mandates, succession conversations, and direct referrals from trusted networks.
If you are relying on job boards as your primary strategy, you are competing hard in the most visible and most crowded corner of the market. The broader opportunity sits elsewhere.
This is not a reason to ignore advertised roles. It is a reason to treat them as one channel among several, rather than the channel.
Define the Problem You Solve Before You Search for Executive Roles
Boards and hiring committees are not looking for well-rounded CVs. They are looking for people who can do something specific and do it well. A private equity-backed business in its third year needs someone who can professionalise operations and prepare for exit. A scale-up that has grown to 200 people needs a leader who can build structure without killing momentum. A business stepping into new markets needs commercial leadership with a proven track record of doing exactly that.
Before you search outward, you need to be able to answer one question clearly: what specific leadership problem do you solve?
Not your job title. Not a list of responsibilities. The problem.
If you cannot name it, you cannot position yourself to the people looking to solve it. That clarity shapes everything else: which organisations to target, which search firms to approach, and how to speak about your experience.
How to Target Organisations Strategically in Your Executive Job Search
Once you know your value, build a target list of organisations rather than waiting for vacancies to appear.
Look for businesses in transition. That is where executive appointments happen. Private equity-backed companies preparing for exit, founder-led businesses ready to bring in professional management, listed businesses under pressure to improve margins, charities navigating governance reform. These organisations have live leadership problems, even if they have not yet written a job description.
Your target list should include the company name, sector, ownership structure, size, current leadership team, and any known strategic pressures. A review of Companies House filings, annual reports, and trade press will give you more useful intelligence than refreshing job boards ever will.
PE portfolio companies are particularly worth your attention. Firms like Bridgepoint, Apax Partners, and BC Partners back dozens of businesses across the UK, and those businesses turn over leadership regularly. Identify the portfolios of two or three relevant PE houses and actively track their companies.
Each firm publishes its portfolio on its own website. Cross-reference with Companies House and trade titles like Private Equity News to spot leadership changes, new investment rounds, and growth mandates. That is a more productive use of time than speculative applications to open roles.
How to Work with Executive Search Firms to Find Leadership Roles
Executive search consultants at firms like Korn Ferry, Egon Zehnder, Russell Reynolds, and Heidrick and Struggles are not recruitment agencies. They are retained by clients to find specific people for specific mandates. They are not scanning CVs in a database hoping to match you to something.
That means your job is to be memorable and easy to place.
When you approach a search firm, lead with a clear positioning statement. Something like: "I am a CFO with a specialism in financial transformation in mid-market manufacturing businesses. I have led three turnarounds and two successful exit processes. I am looking at CFO or Group Finance Director roles in businesses between 100 and 500 million turnover." That gives a consultant something concrete to work with immediately.
In my experience, the candidates search consultants remember are not always the most impressive on paper. They are the ones who could articulate precisely what they were looking for, why they were the right fit, and what they would do in the role. That kind of clarity is rare. When a consultant encounters it, they remember it. It also makes you far easier to refer when the right mandate lands.
Follow up periodically with meaningful updates, avoiding weekly or generic check-ins. Follow up when something relevant changes: a mandate you have seen them advertise, a sector you have just completed significant work in, or a brief note after a noteworthy appointment.
Build relationships with two or three consultants at different firms who specialise in your sector. Spread is more useful than depth with one firm alone.
Use LinkedIn as a Professional Signal in Your Executive Job Search
LinkedIn is the first place most decision-makers will look when your name comes up in a conversation. What they find either strengthens or undermines the impression you have already made.
Your profile headline should not say "Chief Operating Officer at ABC Company." It should say something like "Operations leader specialising in scaling mid-market businesses through transformation and growth." Your About section should read as a leadership narrative, not a CV summary.
Recommendations from chairs, CEOs, and peers carry real weight. A profile with five credible endorsements from senior leaders says something about how people experience your leadership. A profile with none says something too.
You do not need to post daily. One thoughtful piece per month on a relevant leadership or sector theme builds a consistent signal that you have something to say. That visibility compounds quietly over time.
Networking Strategies That Open Doors at the Executive Level
Most professionals know that networking matters at this level. Fewer understand what good networking actually looks like in practice.
It is not about volume. A small number of well-maintained, relevant relationships will open more doors than a large number of surface-level connections. The aim is depth, not reach.
Be specific about what you are seeking. Vague messages asking people to keep you in mind are easy to forget. A focused message that explains what kind of move you are exploring and what you are best placed to do is far easier to act on and far easier to pass on to someone else.
Reconnect before you need anything. The most common mistake is only reaching out during active search mode. By that point, the conversation feels transactional. Maintain relationships during quieter periods. A short message acknowledging something someone has published, or sharing a relevant article, costs very little and keeps a connection warm.
Target the right people deliberately. The most valuable people in your network are not necessarily those with the most senior titles. They are the people close to decisions. Non-executive directors often sit on multiple boards and move in the same circles as the chairs and search consultants who fill senior roles. Two or three strong relationships with experienced NEDs will serve you better than connections with a hundred CEOs you have never spoken with.
Use warm introductions wherever possible. A direct approach to someone you do not know can work, but it requires a compelling reason to engage. A warm introduction from a shared contact carries far more weight and gets a reply far more reliably. Before approaching someone cold, consider who in your existing network might make that introduction instead.
Follow up properly. After a useful conversation, send a brief note of thanks within 24 hours. If you said you would share something, share it. If someone referred you to a contact, let them know how it went. These small acts of follow-through are how professional reputations are built. In a close-knit senior market, they are also how you get referred again.
Attend with intention. Industry events and leadership forums are genuinely useful, but only when you approach them deliberately. Identify two or three people you want to speak with before you arrive and follow up afterwards. The conversations that happen over coffee after a panel are often more valuable than the panel itself.
How to Assess Executive Leadership Opportunities Properly
When roles do surface, apply proper judgement before saying yes to a process.
Ask early: what is the board's genuine appetite for the change this role is supposed to drive? Who does the role report to, and how does that person define success? What happened to the previous incumbent? What does the business look like in three years if this appointment goes well?
These are not difficult or inappropriate questions. They are the questions a strong executive asks. If a hiring process discourages them, that tells you something useful.
A prestigious title in the wrong organisation, with the wrong mandate or insufficient authority, is a career setback dressed as a career move. Be selective. The market for strong executives is not so tight that you need to take whatever comes first.
The Move That Changes Everything in an Executive Career Search
The professionals who navigate this market well are not necessarily the most qualified in the field. They are the ones who are clear about what they offer, consistently visible to the right people, and disciplined about where they direct their energy.
Passive searching does not work at this level. Sustained, deliberate positioning does. If your search feels slow, the most useful question is rarely whether you are qualified enough. It is whether the market understands clearly what you do well and where you create the most value.
That is almost always where the real work needs to happen.
Key Takeaways
The majority of executive roles are never publicly advertised. Your strategy needs to reach beyond job boards.
Clarity about the specific problem you solve matters more than a polished CV.
Executive search firms need a sharp, specific positioning statement to place you effectively.
Networking at this level is about depth and relevance, not volume of contacts.
The professionals who move fastest are not always the most qualified. They are the clearest and most consistently visible.
Before we get to the Ascent programme, here are the questions I am most often asked about executive search.
Frequently Asked Questions About Finding Executive Leadership Roles
How do executive search firms find candidates?
Executive search firms use a combination of their existing networks, direct research, and referrals from trusted contacts to identify candidates. They are not waiting for your CV to land in their inbox. They are actively mapping the market for people who fit a specific brief. This is why being known to the right consultants before you are in active search mode gives you a meaningful advantage.
What is the difference between a headhunter and a recruitment agency?
A recruitment agency typically works on contingency, meaning they are paid only when a placement is made, and they often handle multiple roles at volume. A headhunter or executive search consultant is usually retained by the client upfront to conduct a focused, confidential search for a specific senior role. At executive level, retained search is the norm. Understanding that distinction changes how you approach both.
How long does an executive job search take?
Most executive searches take longer than candidates expect. A realistic timeframe is six to twelve months from the point of actively beginning a structured search. That timeline shortens significantly when your positioning is clear, your network is already engaged, and you are visible to the right search consultants before a mandate lands. Starting the groundwork before you urgently need a move is one of the most practical things a senior leader can do.
What should an executive CV include?
An executive CV should lead with the scale and scope of what you have led, not a list of job duties. Decision-makers want to understand the size of the teams you managed, the budgets you controlled, the problems you were brought in to solve, and the measurable outcomes your leadership produced. It should be concise, typically two pages, and written around your leadership narrative rather than a chronological record of responsibilities. If your CV reads like a job description, it needs to be rewritten.
How Executive Career Coaching Can Support Your Search: The Ascent Programme
If what you have read resonates but you are not yet clear on how to apply it to your own situation, structured support makes a significant difference.
Ascent is a four-month, one-to-one career consultancy programme for leaders and senior professionals who are ready to be deliberate about what comes next. It is not a course. It is focused, expert-led work built entirely around your strengths and the specific move you are trying to make.
The programme begins with the StrengthscopeLeader assessment, validated by the British Psychological Society. I use this tool with every Ascent client and I have completed it myself. When I did, it changed how I understood my own leadership.
When I see that same moment happen for clients, it is striking every time. People do not just receive information about themselves. Something visibly shifts. They sit differently. They speak about themselves differently. They see themselves more clearly, and they hear from others what they had perhaps always sensed but never quite named. That is the foundation everything else is built on.
Across eight core sessions and four briefing calls, you work through your full career transition. Clarifying your direction. Defining your positioning. Rebuilding your CV and LinkedIn profile around your real leadership narrative. And building a forward plan that sustains momentum long after the programme ends.
The programme is delivered one-to-one, either virtually or in person at Forsyth House in Belfast. Investment is clear and transparent: available as a single payment or spread across the four months. There are no hidden costs and no add-ons.
If you're ready to stop applying cold and start getting found, Ascent is built for exactly that. A four-month structured programme for senior leaders who want the next role to come to them.
By Paula Donnan
Strength-Led Career Consultant
Looking for your next management or executive role in the UK or Ireland? Click here.
Strength at Work | Better judgement. Stronger leadership. Higher performance.
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