Positioning Episodes

If your job search is taking too long and you’re a mid or senior-level leader, your gut may be telling you it’s time to broaden your appeal. To have a more general and therefore more appealing positioning. Don’t do it! Host Doug Lester explains, from a recruiter’s perspective, why broadening your positioning could be a big mistake.

Is your LinkedIn headline your job title and company name? If so, you're taking a big risk. Host Doug Lester shares why, based on his experience as a Fortune 100 hiring manager, an executive recruiter and a coach to more than a thousand MBA alumni. And he offers an alternative approach that more effectively communicates your personal narrative.

What if one of your most effective networking strategies could be relying on your competitors to be your advocates? Host Doug Lester explains why this actually works, based on his experience as an executive recruiter at a top firm. And he offers a few tips for doing it the right way.

As business leaders become more comfortable incorporating AI into their organizations, the shape of org charts will change. It's already happening, and it's going to have an impact on career advancement. Host Doug Lester shares classic tips about how to remain competitive amid all the changes.

Have you ever considered how the career choices you make can send intentional and unintentional signals to others that shape your personal narrative? Based on his experience as an executive recruiter at a top firm, host Doug Lester leads you through a quick exercise that lets you step outside yourself and see the forest of your career from the trees.

If you've ever struggled to communicate your personal narrative, there's a good chance it has something to do with context. What is the context in which you do your work and make an impact? The answer is probably more complex and nuanced than you might expect at first. Based on his work with well over 1,000 MBAs, host Doug Lester shares a framework for considering context that's new... and also familiar.

If you're in your 40s or 50s, have you ever been advised to drop the dates from your education entries and remove a few of the earlier roles from your LinkedIn profile and resume? Trying to soft-pedal or hide your age and level of experience can actually work against you getting the aspirational senior roles that might be the best fit at this point in your career. Host Doug Lester shares his experience as a coach to MBA alumni and a former executive recruiter to make the case.

If you've ever thought there was a chance that your manager or skip level isn't clear on what you do and the value you bring to your company, then this episode of The Career Narratives Podcast is worth a listen. Host Doug Lester shares his perspective about how a strong personal or team narrative can help advance your career, or even save your job. 🎧 Take control of your narrative and advance your career — subscribe to the podcast! 🤔 Need a thought partner with experience as a Fortune 100 hi...

Words and phrases you think you need in your resume and LinkedIn profile can unintentionally dilute your personal narrative. As a hiring manager, executive recruiter and coach, host Doug Lester shares the prime suspects and makes a case for avoiding them. He also explains how using them may even work against you by raising unneeded questions in your readers' minds. 🎧 Take control of your narrative and advance your career — subscribe to the podcast! 🤔 Need a thought partner with experience as...

Based on his experience as an executive recruiter at a top firm, Doug Lester offers a strategic perspective focused on crafting a concise, helpful LinkedIn Experience entry. Emphasizing an intended reader's requirements, Doug offers a straightforward approach to writing a LinkedIn Experience entry that focuses on answering the three key questions that executive recruiters (and hiring managers) need the answers to. This episode is the third in a series focused on writing an effective LinkedIn ...

Is your LinkedIn profile actually written to connect with your reader? Do you have a LinkedIn Headline that communicates what you do, the context you do it in, and the impact of your work? If not, give Episode 8 a quick listen Then listen to this episode and find out how to write an engaging LinkedIn About section that will give your reader confidence that the claims you're making about yourself in your Headline are true. After all, your reader could be a potential hiring manager or an exe...

If you don't define your narrative, then someone else might do it for you. Why take that chance? Doug Lester shares a simple, three-part framework he picked up as an executive recruiter that you can apply to your LinkedIn headline. You'll help the people who find you on LinkedIn make sense of your experience and, more importantly, understand where you're headed. 🎧 Take control of your narrative and advance your career — subscribe to the podcast! 🤔 Need a thought partner with experience as a ...

If you're a mid or senior-level manager or executive in business and you've ever referred to yourself as a "generalist," then you're probably limiting your career potential. Based on insight he picked up as a consumer products marketer and a senior recruiter at a top executive search firm, Doug Lester shares why you need to start thinking of yourself, and positioning yourself, as a specialist to maximize your career and earning potential. 🎧 Take control of your narrative and advance your care...

If you've ever felt like the people you're networking and interviewing with just don't get you, you might need to work on your narrative. In this first episode of The Career Narratives Podcast, host Doug Lester shares an insight he picked up when he was working as a senior recruiter at a top executive search firm. Listen in and clarify your own narrative today. Take a step toward career advancement: Subscribe to the podcast! Avoid making 3 common mistakes with executive recruiters: https://www...