Valiant Career

Settling for a ‘good enough’ next position is probably the biggest mistake of your career. Our experience shows professionals "say yes" to the next role far too soon. We know that when you’re under pressure—whether you’re walking away or being forced out—it’s tempting to grab the first “safe” option. But that safety? It’s a lie. Taking “good enough” is how executives get stuck in roles that slow their momentum, waste the thing that makes them great, and run out time they’ll never get back. That decision on the "it's good enough" next role is not the safe compromise you think it is—it’s a choice to close the door on bigger opportunities for the sake of immediate relief. Executives can't just take jobs—they HAVE to craft their careers. The higher you climb, the fewer the opportunities, and the cost of settling grows exponentially. Strategic moves are the only moves. If you're looking to make a move—are you about to settle? https://lnkd.in/gMmW8xMN #careerchange #careerstrategy

We hate to have to tell you this, but: 𝗡𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆, 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 “𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗯 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲” 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵. If you’re reaching out to someone you're interested in learning from, you’re asking for their most valuable, limited resource—𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘: 1. 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙬 Executives at the highest level often lack direct visibility into what’s happening at different organizational levels or industries. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨, 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙. You’re arming them with valuable perspectives they might not get otherwise. 2. 𝙊𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 Yes, even if you’re reaching up, you can still connect them across. 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨—a potential business partner, a thought leader, or someone offering fresh insight. 3. 𝘽𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙄𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪 Leaders love to share their hard-earned wisdom—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. When you ask for their insight, listen, apply it, and let them see their advice in motion. This gives them a stake in your success. 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮. 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰. >> Stop sending generic “Can we grab coffee?” messages. << Step up, offer real value, and watch how the right people 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 seem to want to build into your career. What’s been your most effective way of connecting with higher-level leaders? 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

Smart, generous people in your circle don’t just open doors—they expand your concept of what's possible and rethink what you’re capable of. Deep down, we know this. But here’s the modern mistake: stacking up LinkedIn connections doesn’t mean you’re building a real network. You have to step into spaces where the energy moves you, the questions challenge you, and the answers unsettle you. That's where you'll find the people who will help you grow, think bigger, and take more courageous action. What bold move will connect you with the right people this year?

RESOLUTION #2: If you’re waiting for the perfect role, project, or partnership to land in your lap, you're going to keep on waiting. Two main reasons why: 1. There IS no perfect, only the right thing at the right time. If you're not out there scouting it and making it happen--it's probably not precisely tailored to what you need anyway. 2. Opportunity generally comes from action—small wins, good work, consistent asks. Want something bigger this year? Start by doing the little things exceptionally well. Reach out. Volunteer for the challenging project. Make the pitch. Every task, connection, and success you have stacks momentum—and that opens doors. The big opportunities you’re hoping for aren’t random; they’re built on the foundation you lay every day. This year, stop waiting. Start building. Make your move.

RESOLUTION 1: The biggest threat to your success isn’t what you don’t know—it’s what you refuse to see. Most people avoid feedback because it’s uncomfortable. But avoiding the truth doesn’t make you better—it ALSO doesn't make the truth untrue. If you want the fastest shortcut to growth this year, resolve to do the thing most won’t: Ask for brutal feedback. Seek out people who will tell you where you’re falling short, not just what you’re doing well. They see what you can’t. They can show you patterns, blind spots, and opportunities to level up. Their feedback isn’t a character judgment or your failure—it’s a shortcut to success. Resolve this year to: stop guessing about what’s holding you back. It's easy enough to ask, but harder to hear. Resolve to ask, listen, and act. Because if you don’t know what’s broken, you can't fix it.

Okay, today holds the very first hours of 2025. Nothing has happened yet to shape your year yet at all. At this point, today, you get every say in the outcome. In the top 3 career resolutions, notoriously "Improving Work-Life Balance" appears every year. But, to be totally honest, we HATE the term Work-Life Balance, because when is life EVER balanced? We call it Work-Life Flow instead. Balance is neutral—it’s designed to level things out, but the good doesn’t get better—it just stabilizes everything at baseline. Flow, on the other hand, is dynamic. Alignment, momentum, and amplification. When you build flow into your work and life, your best efforts fuel each other, creating a compound effect. Wins at work energize you for personal goals. Progress in your personal life sharpens your focus at work. It’s not about perfect distribution—it’s about purposeful integration. Balance keeps things at baseline. Flow pushes things forward. But, Work-Life flow requires that you take responsibility and plan your time and energy allocations to support the life you want--according to your values, purpose, skills, strengths, and obligations. You are the boss of your time. And ONLY you can allocate your energy. ---------- Here's 3 quick things to think about this New Year's Day that will yield massive outsized results this year: 1. Audit Your Time Ruthlessly: What are you spending time on that doesn’t drive results or align with your values? Identify tasks to delegate, cut, or rethink. 2. Define What Matters Most: Top 3 professional priorities? Top 3 personal priorities? Design your life to reflect these, not someone else’s expectations. 3. Identify Your Amplifiers: What activities, relationships, or habits create momentum in your life? Look for the things that leave you energized, focused, or productive. Do more of them—and design your schedule around them. Remember: Flow amplifies. Balance moderates everything to baseline by nature (both good and bad). Choose wisely this year.

When leaders leave at year-end, organizations have to scramble to fill critical roles. But these transitions don’t show up on job boards—they’re handled quietly, through trusted networks. The question is: are you visible when the calls start happening? Strengthen your professional presence, spark conversations, and make sure you're out there as an answer to someone's need. The market is shifting. When you know where you're aiming, you'll always be ready for the right move.

This holiday season, the greatest gift you can give yourself is clarity, confidence, and strategy for the new year. The end of the year isn’t really downtime for people looking to make a move—it’s prime time to take control. Waiting for January is a mistake. Opportunities don’t pause for the holidays. Think on this: What’s one action you can take today to set your career up for success in 2024? Our pro tip? Make the action you take today to be reaching out to us. Because you deserve more than resolutions. You deserve results. Pro tip: Start by reaching out to us. In these quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s, do what others aren’t and take action. Make the moves to gather the support and feedback to make 2025 a year of huge growth in your life. Resolutions are often overrated. Results aren’t.

Career transitions at the executive level are anything but simple. The stakes are high, the opportunities are few, and the decisions you make today will shape your trajectory for years to come. To help, we’ve created a Career Transition Checklist tailored for executives like you. It’s not about the basics; it’s about what really moves the needle: - Aligning your strengths with future industry trends - Crafting a professional brand that opens doors - Mastering the hidden job market with precision networking - Pre-planning your first 100 days to hit the ground running You’ve led teams. Now lead your career with the same clarity and confidence. Ready to make your next move count? Download the checklist in the link in our comments or message us directly.

Year-end isn’t just a time to celebrate wins—it’s a chance to confront reality. Did your actions this year move you closer to your long-term goals, or did you coast on an outdated definitions of what success looks like to you? Make your next move count. Your trajectory depends on it. Check the comments for a link to directions on how to conduct your own year-end audit.