Stop Applying. Get Approached. The Early Approach

The Early Approach

The Early Approach. The weekly newsletter for Heads of, Directors, and C-suite professionals who would rather be approached than apply. Every Thursday, one essay on senior career positioning. Built on the four-move methodology used inside Get Approached (Position, Signal, Target, Relationships) and the Career Practice that keeps your positioning sharp before you need it. Each issue: one signal explained, one profile breakdown, one fix you can apply this week. When the next move comes, you will know exactly where to start. Stop Applying. Get Approached.

13 Position (the one move the other three depend on)

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by Cheraine Escott — Jul 23, 2026 c-suite positioning director career strategy executive branding executive career strategy executive linkedin executive positioning get approached head of career personal positioning positioning statement senior executive strategy the approached method

12 The full method. Free.

For a while now I have shared versions of this framework in fragments. This week, the whole thing. In one place. Free. If you are Head of, Director, or C-suite in Australia, NZ, UK, US, Canada, Singapore, or Japan, this is how you stop applying and start being approached. The Approached Method is...

by Cheraine Escott — Jul 16, 2026 approached community career practice decision-maker map executive career strategy executive positioning getting approached linkedin positioning peer-to-peer outreach senior career positioning senior leadership the approached method

11 The conversation you actually want

The senior leaders I speak to most weeks are describing the same thing. They are content in their current roles. They are not looking. But when they describe the conversation they actually want, it sounds like this: "I want to hear from the person who is the decision-maker. Someone at CEO, CMO, o...

by Cheraine Escott — Jul 09, 2026 approached membership discreet career practice executive career strategy peer-to-peer introductions private senior networks senior career positioning senior leadership development

10 The window most senior leaders miss

Most senior leaders I speak to are content in their current role. Most of them think this means they do not need to think about their next move. That is the mistake. When you are content in your current role is the exact window when you should be building the foundation for what comes next. Not b...

by Cheraine Escott — Jul 02, 2026 approached membership career practice executive career strategy proactive career planning senior career positioning senior leadership development

09 Plant the seeds before you need the harvest.

The conversation about your next senior role is happening right now. You aren't in it. That's not a comment on you. It's a comment on timing. Senior roles are filled in rooms that close long before the role hits the market. By the time the role is advertised, the shortlist is forming. By the time...

by Cheraine Escott — Jun 25, 2026 approached membership c-suite professionals career practice director-level careers executive career strategy hidden job market network building for senior leaders proactive career management senior career positioning the window framework

08 Visibility is not self-promotion.

Visibility is not self-promotion. A senior leader I spoke with this week asked how to "do visibility" without sounding like a LinkedIn influencer. Decades of serious corporate experience behind them. A track record search firms could verify in fifteen minutes. And they were watching peers with th...

by Cheraine Escott — Jun 18, 2026 approached methodology founding membership linkedin for senior leaders senior career positioning signal pillar the early approach the window visibility

07 What every senior leader is asking right now

The pattern across this week's senior calls Four Positioning Calls with senior leaders at Head of and Director level across Australia this week. Different sectors. Different career stages. Different specific concerns. Same underlying question. How do I make the next transition structural rather ...

by Cheraine Escott — Jun 11, 2026 approached methodology australian corporate career runway career transition executive career strategy head of and director roles linkedin for senior leaders position signal target relationships senior career positioning senior hiring the window framework

06 The same three questions

Across the Positioning Calls I run each week with Head of and Director level professionals, three questions come up on almost every single one. Different sectors, different cities, different career chapters. The same three. This is what they sound like. "What if my employer sees this and thinks ...

by Cheraine Escott — Jun 04, 2026 executive-job-search executive-job-search-australia executive-linkedin-tips hidden-job-market how-to-get-headhunted linkedin-for-executives linkedin-headline-for-executives senior-career-positioning

05 The quiet stage of a senior career. Read this.

Every senior leader I work with has the same observation eventually. "It's gone a bit quieter than I'm used to." Some name it. Most don't. The ones who do almost always rationalise it as inevitable. The pool of roles at Head of, Director, GM or CIO level is just smaller than what they had at the ...

by Cheraine Escott — May 28, 2026 career coaching career positioning executive career transition hidden job market linkedin strategy senior career strategy senior leadership signal vs capability six-second test the window framework

04 You're too close to see your own value.

Last week I covered the Positioning Report. The six-second scan, and the window exercise: rewrite the first three lines of your About. If you tried it, you probably found it harder than it looked. A blank screen, a cursor, and twenty years of work you could not get into three lines. This week, wh...

by Cheraine Escott — May 21, 2026 30-day job search plan 5 hours a week job search approached director role search diy executive career system executive career sprint executive career templates executive job search australia executive job search new zealand four moves career system get headhunted head of role search hidden job market senior career strategy the approached method the playbook

Most senior leaders score under 40%.

Last week I covered the four moves. Position. Signal. Target. Relationships. This week, the move that costs senior leaders the most. The signal A hiring manager at Head and Director level scans your LinkedIn in six seconds. Six seconds for the banner, photo, headline, and the first three lines of...

by Cheraine Escott — May 14, 2026 approached career positioning director role search executive job search australia executive job search new zealand executive linkedin audit executive search firms linkedin get headhunted head of role search hidden job market linkedin about section for executives linkedin for executives linkedin headline for heads and directors senior linkedin profile score six-second scan the positioning report

02 Two doors. One window.

Last week we covered why the calls have gone quiet at Head and Director level. Two thirds of the market is having a conversation you are not in. This week, where that conversation actually happens. And the four moves you run to be in it. The signal There are two doors and a window into a senior...

by Cheraine Escott — May 07, 2026 approached career positioning director role search executive job search australia executive job search new zealand executive resume head of role search hidden job market linkedin positioning for executives senior leadership careers the early approach the four moves

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The Early Approach

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