Q4 2023 Update on Executive Appointments & Executive Openings

Lead5 tracks executive openings and executive appointments for leading US based companies. Analysis for Lead5 for Q4 of 2023 shows executive appointments finished the year on a solid pace and up significantly year-over-year from Q4 of 2022. Q4 YOY numbers for executive opportunities were up 52% from Q4 2022 and executive appointments were up 47%. 

In total, 2023 executive opportunities were up 45% from 2022 which remains a low point since Lead5 started tracking annual numbers. We did not see any softening of the market in Q4 of 2023 and the strong bounce back in the overall numbers from 2022 to 2023 bodes well for a strong start to Q1 of 2024. 

The first of the year is a great time to engage with a pro-active strategy for your executive career. Join Lead5 today to stay connected to ever-changing market intel from the Lead5 community. Familiarize yourself with the Indicators of Management ChangesNegotiating Executive CompensationHow to Best Approach Executive RecruitersHow to Best Approach In-House Corporate RecruitersAdvice for Resignations, and Sample Email Templates to Send Direct to Hiring Managers.

Q3 2023 Update on Executive Appointments & Executive Openings

Lead5 tracks executive openings and executive appointments for leading US based companies. Analysis for Lead5 for Q3 of 2023 shows executive appointments were down 7% from Q2 and Q3 executive opportunities were up 3% over Q2 2023. The YOY numbers remained elevated as Q3 opportunities tracked were up 47% over Q3 2022. Executive appointments for Q3 YOY were up 13% over Q3 2022 numbers. 

What does this all mean? While executive movement tracked by Lead5 remains below pre-pandemic levels 2023 is shaping up to be a solid year for executive opportunities and appointments. Q3 in 2023 has held steady at a similar rate to Q2. We will continue to monitor the numbers to see if there is any evidence of softening of the market in Q4 as we did notice a slight downtick in the numbers for September 2023. 

Now is a great time to research and prepare a pro-active strategy for your next executive career move. Join Lead5 today to stay connected to ever-changing market intel from the Lead5 community. Familiarize yourself with the Indicators of Management ChangesNegotiating Executive CompensationHow to Best Approach Executive RecruitersHow to Best Approach In-House Corporate RecruitersAdvice for Resignations, and Sample Email Templates to Send Direct to Hiring Managers.

Executive Recruiter Advice for Resignations

Lead5 is the platform built to equip, inform, and educate executives on their entire career journey. One of the major inflection points for any executive is the resignation process. In today’s market it is common for an exec to work for 4 or 5 companies across a 25-year C-level career. That means likely 2 or 3 awkward and often contentious moments of informing your boss or the board of your resignation.

With the Lead5 team we have decades of executive search experience and have summarized the best practices for resigning from your C-level position:

  • Approach the resignation with a focused, firm, and disciplined approach. Rehearse the conversation with your boss and do everything possible to resign in-person not via phone or zoom. Be clear and efficient – do not get into a long, drawn-out discussion.
  • Keep the reasons for departing your company focused on your new position and be gracious and appreciative of the growth and opportunity you have been afforded at the company you are leaving. It is common to keep your future company name confidential as there are multiple legitimate reasons for confidentiality (new deal coming together, timing of announcement of your appointment, etc.)
  • Assure your boss you are not going to a competitor (if that is accurate). If they press you for the company name of where you are going it is best to let them know you can share this information at a later date. If you are going to a competitor, it is best to have had a lawyer review the non-compete prior and make sure the company you are joining will support you against any action taken to enforce a non-compete.
  • While a two-week notice is a common time frame for most jobs, at the C-level the average is a 3-to-4-week notice. You want to leave well and balance working hard through your transition but also join the new company with energy and a sense of urgency.
  • Do not accept a counteroffer! While this is self-serving advice coming from executive recruiters, the reality is you are leaving your current job for reasons beyond compensation. When accepting a counter, these reasons remain. Once a counteroffer is accepted, the relationship between the company and executive is never the same. The company perceives loyalty and trust have been broken and executives often comment, “If they valued me in this way for my compensation (or job level) why did it take resigning to get it?” No one wants to advance their career by extortion. This is never a good long-term strategy!

Do you have additional advice and tips from resigning? If so, join Lead5 today and share with the Lead5 community to discover the intel you’ve been missing to advance your executive career!

First Half of 2023 Update on Executive Appointments & Executive Openings

Lead5 tracks executive openings and executive appointments for leading US based companies. Analysis for Lead5 for the first half of 2023 (Q1 + Q2) executive appointments were up 58% YoY.  First half of 2023 executive opportunities were up 42% YoY from the first half of 2022. The second half of 2022 was flat for executive opportunities compared to the first half of 2022, so the 2023 numbers show a significant jump in overall executive hiring activity. Executive hiring is often a leading indicator for the overall health of the economy. We will continue to monitor the Lead5 data set to see if this upward trajectory continues through Q3 and Q4 of 2023. 

Now is a great time to research and prepare a pro-active strategy for your next executive career move. Join Lead5 today to stay connected to ever-changing market intel from the Lead5 community. Familiarize yourself with the Indicators of Management ChangesNegotiating Executive CompensationHow to Best Approach Executive RecruitersHow to Best Approach In-House Corporate Recruiters, and Sample Email Templates to Send Direct to Hiring Managers.

To End or Not to End Your Job Tenure

Candidates departing an executive position often ask us how to handle updating their Linkedin bio. Recruiters advise them against adding an end date to their most recent job until they have secured a new job. This advice is rooted in the adage, “It is always easier to get a job if you have a job.”

It is common for executives to accept a package out of a company in a restructuring. Similarly, if a company is sold, the senior management team of the acquired company is often replaced. There are also instances in which an executive is fired or confidentially let go. It is normal for executives to have between 3 to 6 months between positions. The average executive search at the major search firms lasts over 120 days, closer to 150 days. The elapsed time from the moment a candidate is initially contacted by a recruiter to the moment they officially accept an offer will be, on average, greater than 90 days. 

Considering this, savvy recruiters and companies view the executive as a “free agent”. That free agent status can benefit your standing as a finalist in the executive search process for multiple reasons. First, you can start the job more quickly than someone who must resign and give notice. Second, you do not have unvested equity or bonus monies to be made whole on. 

When you possess the resume, experience, and stature of a C-level candidate, you do not need to “slow play” updating your Linkedin bio. At Lead5, we recommend you close out your tenure on any public facing bio within 30 days of departure from a company.

If the departure is contentious, have a succinct explanation and provide references. If the CEO will not be a reference, have a board member or key executive at the company who can validate the circumstances. Departures happen to every executive, some for good reasons, some bad, and everything in between. As recruiters, we have seen it all and we are more concerned with what you learned from the experience and how you will grow and excel in your next role. 

Embrace your time as a free agent. Three to twelve months between deals is standard for executives in free agent mode. If you have been out of a full-time job longer than 12 months, try to secure a meaningful and substantive consulting role that keeps you in the market and on the pulse of your industry sector. 

Also, be open to relocation for greater career opportunities. Post Covid, companies have become more flexible on hybrid or remote work. Even so, for executive positions, a willingness to be based at HQ with the senior leadership team can help distinguish you from other candidates. 

If you have personal experiences and lessons learned from your time as an executive “free agent” we would love to hear from you. Join Lead5 today and take advantage of the free 7-day trial plus a complementary career consultation with one of our founders. www.lead5.com

Q2 2022 Update on Executive Appointments & Executive Openings

Lead5 tracks executive openings and executive appointments for leading US based companies. Analysis for Lead5 Q2 of 2022 executive appointments were down another 20% from Q1 2022 and down over 40% YoY.  Q2 executive opportunities were also down YoY in a similar decline. This downward trajectory started in February of 2022 with the news of the war in Ukraine and the onset of the inflation numbers. As executive hiring trends down the debate continues whether we are heading for a recession. We will continue to monitor the Lead5 data set to determine if Q3 stabilizes from this downward trajectory. 

Now is a great time to research and prepare a pro-active strategy for your next executive career move. Join Lead5 today to stay connected to ever-changing market intel from the Lead5 community. Familiarize yourself with the Indicators of Management ChangesNegotiating Executive CompensationHow to Best Approach Executive RecruitersHow to Best Approach In-House Corporate Recruiters, and Sample Email Templates to Send Direct to Hiring Managers.

Q1 2022 and Second Half 2021 Updates for Executive Appointments and Executive Openings

Lead5 tracks executive openings and executive appointments for leading US based companies. Analysis for Lead5 for the second half of 2021 data shows executive appointments slightly up 3% year over year. For Q1 of 2022 executive appointments were down 20% along with executive opportunities also down YoY. Interestingly, the January 2022 executive appointments were up slightly YoY with February starting to trend down and March 2022 executive appointments down 40%. This corresponds with the timing of headline and market data from the war in Ukraine and inflation numbers. We will continue to monitor the Lead5 data set and the effect on executive hiring into Q2 and the summer months. 

Now is a great time to research and prepare a pro-active strategy for your next executive career move. Join Lead5 today to stay connected to ever-changing market intel from the Lead5 community. Familiarize yourself with the Indicators of Management ChangesNegotiating Executive CompensationHow to Best Approach Executive RecruitersHow to Best Approach In-House Corporate Recruiters, and Sample Email Templates to Send Direct to Hiring Managers.

Introducing the Next Generation of Lead5

We created Lead5 to empower executives with traditionally hidden opportunities and career advancing intel. Today we’re excited to announce the next generation of Lead5, with a new and improved user experience and more complete functionality than ever before to help executives manage the lifecycle of their executive journey. 

The next generation Lead5 platform provides:

  • Access to verified and potential leads for thousands of executive jobs.
  • Tracking of PE firms and PE deals that often indicate leadership changes.
  • Search project functionality to build target company lists, access the Lead5 recruiter database, follow executive moves, and build/save customized queries.
  • Easier to navigate saved items feature that replaces the legacy Lead5 playbook.
  • Full work email contact information for thousands of companies and corporate executives. 
  • More seamless integration of the Lead5 Community for members to share opportunity leads, add comments, invite peers, and contribute to trending market discussions. 

You can access all these features and more by logging into Lead5 for the new and improved user experience. If you have any questions or feedback we’d love to hear from you, email us at info@lead5.com or take advantage of Lead5’s complementary career consultations where we can demo the next generation of Lead5! 

Negotiating Executive Compensation

In my 20 plus years of executive search experience, I have worked on hundreds of C-level assignments and navigated countless compensation negotiations through the “offer stage”. Here are 5 tips for executive candidates to keep in mind when closing the deal:

  1. Think like an owner. Value long-term awards and creating value over time as the key drivers for your compensation. Forgoing cash for more equity sends a strong message of leadership and “buy-in” to the board and/or C-suite. This indicates you are committed to the future success of the company and have confidence in the value creation you can drive. If the opportunity is available and you are in a position to do so, ask to purchase stock on your own beyond the equity grant or put your own money in the PE or VC round of financing. 

  1. If you negotiate, go one turn and then accept the counter offer. There is nothing wrong with accepting the initial offer if you believe it is strong and it meets your expectations. Yes, you may be able to negotiate marginal percentage points higher in base, bonus, equity, or sign-on, but do not underestimate the momentum of a positive, team oriented start. In my experience, one round of tweaks or negotiations is common, but if you push beyond that, it is generally poor form. 

  1. Communicate your compensation expectations to the company and/or recruiter prior to receiving the formal offer.  Many candidates think they are weakening their bargaining power by sharing expectations. They think keeping things “close to the vest” until the actual negotiations will provide the best outcome, but this can work against them. If the company is not clear on the expected compensation range, they may low-ball the candidate at offer stage (often a red flag for a dysfunctional company culture). Ultimately, the deal needs to be compelling for both the candidate and the company. Lack of communication of expectations prior to the formal offer stage can undermine the deal and be perceived as unprofessional. 

  1. Share your current and past compensation with the recruiter and company if they ask. Note, it is now illegal in a number of states to ask a candidate’s compensation. In the states where it is legal, withholding this information is regarded as a lack of understanding of how executive deals are structured. As executive recruiters, we are not asking your previous compensation history to lessen your negotiating power. We are asking these questions to ensure the best fit for both you and the company in an effort not waste either party’s time. For example, if your base salary is $400,000, you will ultimately not take a job offering a $275,000 base. There are exceptions, but in my 500+ executive searches over two decades, candidates are rarely willing to take pay-cuts in cash compensation. A candidate squeezing into a role with less than ideal compensation, usually means the role is not the right fit and the candidate leaves the company within 24 months. The exceptions tend to be candidates who forgo cash for more equity, aligning with point number 1. 

  1. Focus your identity as an executive on the value you create, not being the highest paid in your industry. Value creators are discovered and rewarded over time – keep this in mind in negotiations. You want to exceed the expectations of the CEO and board and create value and wealth for everyone in the organization. The experience of doing this is far more valuable, fulfilling, repeatable, and lasting than a certain base salary or sign-on bonus. 

Interested in more career advice? Sign-up for Lead5 and take advantage of the free career consultation plus gain more insight, intel and career tips from the Lead5 Community.

Introducing Lead5 Search Accelerator

Lead5 Search Accelerator is an alternative recruiting service to the high price and long lead times of retained executive search and an ideal recruitment solution for direct report roles to the C-level such as Controller, Head of FP&A, VP Finance, General Counsel, Head of HR, Head of IT, plus divisional GM and operational roles.

With Search Accelerator, for less than the price of a contingency recruiter, you receive the Lead5 brand power, technology, and full research to market your position to all available talent – both passive and active – providing you with the best possible decision support to build out a high performing team.

For more information contact info@lead5.com