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.

Relationships (the compound that produces the calls)

A note before we start. Approached is now at approached.co. If you're not sure you're on the new list, subscribe at approached.co/subscribe to make sure next week's letter lands in your inbox. Same weekly letter. New home. Relationships. Three weeks ago we went inside Position. Two weeks ago, Si...

by Cheraine Escott — Aug 14, 2026 advocate relationships career practice decision-maker relationships executive networking executive networking alternative get approached peer relationships reciprocity at senior level relationships senior career strategy senior leader relationships the four pillars

Target (why a wishlist doesn't work)

Yesterday I sent you an email letting you know that my newsletter is moving over to approached.co. If you haven't popped over and signed up yet, please do, so otherwise you will only receive one or two more emails from me (and I'd hate to see you go). Make sure you check your spam folder and conf...

by Cheraine Escott — Aug 06, 2026 c-suite career filter director career strategy executive career filter executive job search strategy executive networking filter executive optionality executive target head of function target layer sector stage senior executive career strategy target company list the approached method

Approached is moving. One click to stay.

Hi there! Approached is moving from approached.au to approached.co. The change reflects who is actually reading now: Head of, Director and C-suite leaders across US, UK, AU, NZ, Canada, Singapore and Japan. The .au domain was built for an Australian audience. Approached now serves seven markets, ...

Aug 05, 2026

14 Signal (why posting more is not the answer)

Signal. Last week we went inside Position. This week we go inside the second move. Signal is every visible piece of evidence in a decision-maker's field of vision that reinforces your position. Your LinkedIn posts. The comments you leave on other people's posts. Your bio. Your About section. Podc...

by Cheraine Escott — Jul 30, 2026 c-suite content director linkedin strategy executive career strategy executive content strategy executive personal brand executive positioning executive signal head of function linkedin linkedin for executives senior executive linkedin silent reader the approached method

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

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The Early Approach

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