Strategic Career Planning

My executive coach was nothing like I thought he (!) would be. Before I was SEIA’s CEO, I never had a coach. When I moved into this position, I decided that a coach would be a good idea to help me grow into this role. Before we started, I thought I knew what she would teach me. We would cover how to position myself at the table for power and how loudly to use my voice so I could get people scurrying. And, of course, it would be a woman. None of that happened. I met Daniel Sheres, who became my executive coach after a friend recommended him. I was drawn to his energy and his lack of corporate speak. He taught me about people. He shared research about people’s willingness or unwillingness to change. He shared that people don’t follow leaders as much as they follow ideas. Loyalty to a vision is much stronger than loyalty to a person, and strong leaders know this and create a shared vision that inspires and motivates. He changed how I communicate. He impacted my career immensely by challenging me to reframe my role to focus on creating a vision and building consensus and excitement for that vision. It has altered how I try to affect change at Solar Energy Industries Association and, ultimately, the solar and energy storage industry. He’s also been so much more for me than a coach. He’s become a fantastic friend as well. The kind that gives you honest advice. If you’re considering a coach, ask yourself what you are looking for and where you need to grow. What has your experience with an executive coach taught you?

After 20+ Years Coaching High Performers, I've Discovered One Universal Truth The executives who achieve extraordinary results aren't the most intelligent people in the room. They're not the most strategic. They're not even the most talented. They're the ones who take action while everyone else is still planning. Over the course of two decades, coaching Fortune 500 leaders, startup founders, and high-performing professionals, I've witnessed the pattern of analysis paralysis repeat itself hundreds of times. The leaders I coach who consistently break through barriers share one trait ➤ they have a bias toward action. While their peers debate, they decide. While others research, they test. While competitors plan, they execute. 🔹Here's what separates action-takers from overthinkers: Action-takers understand that clarity comes through engagement, not contemplation. They know that market feedback trumps market research. They've learned that imperfect execution often beats perfect planning. 🔹Here are 10 simple ways you can start taking more action today: → Set a 24-hour decision deadline for any choice you've been pondering → Make one important phone call you've been avoiding → Send that email you've been drafting in your head → Schedule the meeting instead of waiting for the "right time" → Start the project with whatever resources you have now → Have the difficult conversation you've been postponing → Apply for the opportunity before you feel "ready" → Test your idea with real customers, not focus groups → Delegate the task you've been micromanaging → Say yes to the challenge that makes you uncomfortable Your career isn't built on the decisions you make perfectly. It's built on the decisions you make quickly and then improve through action. Stop waiting for permission. Stop seeking perfection. Start moving. Coaching can help; let's chat. What's one action you could take in the next 24 hours that would move your most important goal forward? -- Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Joshua Miller for more tips on leadership, coaching, career + mindset. #leadership #executivecoaching #motivation #mindset #coachingtips

Just as with may of my industry peers, we are moving from how to optimize on an existing TA strategy to how do we rethink the entire purpose of our function.  We all know more than ever that it's not about filling roles fast-  it's about strengthening organizational capability.  Talent acquisition is moving faster than ever from a fulfillment function into a strategic talent engine. The metrics that matter are changing: organizations are moving away from time-to-fill and cost-per-hire and toward actual business outcomes. Josh Bersin's latest research emphasizing talent density is THE point. In practice, that's combining efficiency with effectiveness. It's precision workforce planning — sharing data and intelligence across HR, TA, and the business to understand where talent is best deployed, not just where there's an open req. It means moving beyond filling requisitions to optimizing the health and strategic value of the entire talent pool. Here's what that looks like operationally at ServiceNow: we're designing approaches to strategically move talent across the business to where it's most needed. Not defaulting to external hiring. Not settling for misalignment. Building organizational capability by placing the right people in roles where they can have the highest impact. ServiceNow University gives people the skills foundation. And talent density compounds when you're deploying those capabilities strategically at enterprise scale - solving transformation problems for 8,800+ customers, where the impact of strategic placement ripples company-wide. That's when talent becomes genuinely valuable. The organizations that emerge transformed won't be the ones who hired the fastest. They'll be the ones who optimized for talent density and who strengthened enterprise capability by moving talent with intention. #TalentStrategy #TalentAcquisition #WorkforceStrategy #LeadershipDevelopment #FutureOfWork #ServiceNow 

🔄 Life After the C-Suite: Why Every Executive Needs a Transition Coach Stepping away from an executive role — whether by choice, succession, or circumstance — is one of the most pivotal transitions in a leader’s career. But what comes next isn’t always clear According to Russell Reynolds Associates, the most successful transitions aren’t solo journeys. They’re supported by coaches or mentors who help leaders reframe their identity, clarify their purpose, & unlock new possibilities Here’s what pioneering executives are doing: 1. Engaging coaches or mentors to explore what impact looks like beyond the boardroom 2. Using coaching or mentoring to shift from “What’s my next title?” to “What’s my next chapter?” 3. Building clarity around legacy, influence, & personal reinvention 💡 The data is compelling: leaders who work with coaches or mentors report greater confidence, sharper decision-making, & more meaningful post-executive careers But transition coaching isn’t just about career strategy. It’s also about navigating the emotional terrain of transition — the loss of status, the shift in routine, & the challenge of rediscovering relevance A great transition coach doesn’t always give you the answers. They ask better questions. They help you see blind spots, challenge assumptions, & reconnect with what ultimately drives you Whether you're retiring, pivoting, launching a portfolio career, or stepping into advisory work — transition coaching can turn uncertainty into opportunity And for boards & leadership teams: supporting outgoing executives with transition coaching isn’t just generous — it’s strategic. It protects reputation, preserves relationships, & ensures continuity 📣 If you’re approaching a career transition, ask yourself: 1. Who’s helping you think beyond the role? 2. What does success look like on your terms? 3. Are you ready to lead your next chapter with clear intent & purpose? 📣 But don't take my word for it. Take it from a recent client of mine. A Vice President Europe in a technology company who was supported by me. She now runs a successful advisory practice to organisations in the same sector She described our coaching as follows: 💬 "Navid’s executive transition coaching not only contributed to my success, but it also provided a safe space to reflect, explore & catalyse key communications ahead of crucial conversations. I am grateful for having worked with him."

Research consistently shows that high-performers leave organizations quickly when they don't see clear development opportunities. In other words, your high-potential employees are watching—and they're making decisions about their future. Some good news? Executive coaching can change this equation. Traditional development programs teach skills. Coaching develops the person. While workshops cover leadership theories, coaching addresses the real-time challenges your rising stars face: navigating politics, building influence, making tough decisions under pressure. The acceleration happens in three key areas: ▪️ Self-awareness at scale. High-potentials often excel technically but struggle with emotional intelligence. Coaching creates the space for honest self-reflection they rarely get elsewhere. ▪️ Strategic thinking development. Moving from tactical execution to strategic leadership requires a fundamental shift in perspective. Coaching bridges this gap faster than classroom learning. ▪️ Confidence in complexity. Even your best people doubt themselves when facing new challenges. Coaching builds the internal resilience needed for bigger roles. The business impact is measurable: Organizations using executive coaching for high-potential development see faster promotion rates and stronger internal advancement. The retention impact is even stronger. These employees stay longer and become your strongest internal advocates. ➡️ TLDR? Executive Coaching = Yay!

Good strategic workforce planning is different from operational planning... ...because it looks much further ahead to determine what kind of workforce is needed to deliver the company’s long-term strategy. It can be a valuable and natural extension of the business strategy that yields a major competitive advantage, positioning a firm for sustained growth and innovation, no matter the changes to come. Key takeaways on the four principles to achieve that: 💡 It is future-back, not today-forward - the best leaders take a future-back approach—they envision the distant future and then build a plan to achieve it. They understand that good strategic workforce planning often enters an uncomfortable space where some aspects of the “how” are unknown. 💡It is uneven - Successful strategic workforce planning often involves focusing differentially on a few job families—groupings of roles with reasonable skill overlaps. The best plans focus exclusively on large or scarce workforce populations that expect to see change. 💡It is learning-based - leaders can guard against incorrect assumptions by making the plan easily adaptable and updating it each year based on what they’ve learned. They will watch carefully for the right signposts and distinguish between offsetting forces (e.g. leaders might make assumptions around increasing headcount due to business growth and decreasing headcount from automation productivity gains) 💡 It is simple enough to be repeatable - When leaders make the workforce plan too granular, it becomes a bureaucratic, wasted effort that the business resents. The best processes are tied to annual strategic planning. They feel like a light addition to thinking through the strategy’s people implications. Overall: A good strategic planning thoughtfully assesses both human and financial capital. HR teams can help the business define the future at the job family level in the same way that finance supports forecasting major P&L and capital lines. #workforceplanning #strategy

Stop asking "How many roles do we need to fill now?" and start asking "What skills do we need tomorrow?" Traditional workforce planning is often reactive and headcount driven. In an AI-accelerated world, that model is too slow and too expensive. If your workforce plan is still a headcount plan, it’s already outdated. This isn't just an HR exercise; it’s a leadership problem and a risk mitigation strategy. Skills gaps don’t show up in org charts; they show up in missed targets. First, identify your skills baseline today. Then, map the "sunrise" skills needed for future growth. Finally, redeploy talent based on capability rather than just job title. A skills-led workforce is inherently more agile and more resilient to change. Most workforce plans don’t look beyond the next quarter. That’s the problem. How far ahead is your current workforce plan actually looking? #workforceplanning #businessstrategy #futureofwork #P&C

In June 2017, I was just a 23-year-old who was angry. Angry that so many young people around me were expected to make life-changing career decisions without anyone ever being asked one simple question: "What do you enjoy doing?" At the time, I worked as a palm kernel factory worker and a cashier. Every morning on my way to work, I would meet secondary school students and ask them about their interests, what they wanted to become, and what excited them. Most couldn't answer. Not because they lacked potential, but because no one had ever asked. That was the moment something changed for me. With just $5 in my savings box, I organised a small career symposium in my community. I rented a speaker, negotiated with a photographer, borrowed a projector, bought fuel for a generator, and asked my cousin and a friend to join me. We shared our stories, and the students came alive. They asked difficult questions about careers, purpose, parents' expectations, and their future. Some I could answer. Many, I couldn't. So I became a student again. I watched career videos on YouTube, watched TEDx Talks, read articles, and slowly developed what became the ISLP Model—Interest, Strength, Limitation and Purpose. That simple framework became the foundation of KLCI Over the next eight years, we reached tens of thousands of young people through schools, bootcamps, and career programmes. But one question kept bothering me. How do you reach millions of young people when there are simply not enough career counsellors? In Nigeria, around 93% of students go through school without formal career guidance. Across Africa, millions of underserved and displaced young people face the same reality. Career guidance had become a privilege. But choosing your future shouldn't depend on your ability to pay for a career coach. So we asked ourselves another question: What if AI could make quality career guidance accessible to everyone? That question gave birth to Rafiki AI (https://lnkd.in/eMeGuFyh) & Rafiki X (https://www.rafikigen.ai/), our generative AI career advisor available on WhatsApp and the web. In just one year, they have supported more than 12,000 users across 60 countries, with over 97% of users in Nigeria. Sometimes I look at these two photos. One was taken during our very first career outreach in 2017. The other represents a journey that has now been featured by Amazon Web Services (AWS) for building a generative AI career adviser for underserved and displaced young people. The distance between those two photos wasn't talent. It wasn't money. It was simply refusing to stop asking, "How can we help one more young person?" This journey has also been made possible through the support of the AWS Education Equity Initiative, whose cloud credits and technology helped us build and scale Rafiki AI. I'm also grateful to Aanya Niaz and Mohammed Reda for believing in this work from the beginning and for sharing our story. The link is in the comments

AI just became the most valuable member of your staffing team. Here's why healthcare operations managers are paying attention. The global healthcare workforce shortage is projected to reach 10 million workers by 2030. That's roughly the entire population of Sweden missing from hospital floors and care facilities. Traditional staffing methods react to problems after they happen. AI predicts them before they start. Predictive workflows analyze historical patterns, seasonal fluctuations, and patient admission trends to forecast exactly when and where you'll need staff. This means fewer last-minute scrambles for coverage and better allocation of your existing resources. The operational impact is substantial. Managers can now plan shifts weeks in advance with actual data backing their decisions. They can identify bottlenecks before they cripple departments. They can redistribute teams based on predicted demand rather than gut feeling. This changes HR strategy at a fundamental level. Recruitment cycles become more strategic. Training programs align with forecasted needs. Budget planning gains precision that was previously impossible. The technology addresses a real crisis with practical solutions. Every hospital administrator knows the cost of understaffing. Patient care suffers. Staff burnout accelerates. Emergency coverage eats budgets. AI provides the foresight to tackle these challenges systematically. The question for healthcare leaders is simple: will you continue reacting to staffing crises or start preventing them? The tools exist today. The workforce shortage will only intensify tomorrow.

Just wrapped up a call with a Staff Engineer who joined a company two weeks ago. They've hired 40 people in the last three months. More are starting every week. What impressed me most about their scaling journey? Their onboarding didn't break. In fact, it might be the best I've heard about in years. Most companies I speak with are drowning in growth right now. They've just closed recent funding rounds. The pressure is on to hire fast. Really fast. And in that rush, onboarding becomes an afterthought. New starters spend their first week chasing IT for equipment. Hunting through Confluence for docs that are six months out of date. Sitting in meetings they don't understand because no one's given them context. It's exhausting for everyone involved. But this company is doing it differently. Equipment gets shipped before day one. Policies and initial updates are handled upfront. So when people actually start, their first day is about connection, not helpdesk tickets. They use a system that gives new starters 25-30 tasks spread across org-level, product-level, and team-level onboarding. It's all in one place. Small tasks when you need a quick win. Bigger ones when you've got focus time. No one's getting lost in documentation. And they didn't just hire engineers. They hired People and Culture leaders who understand how to maintain culture during explosive growth. This is what happens when funding is deployed strategically. They're not just throwing money at headcount. They're investing in the systems that make headcount successful. Because rapid growth without infrastructure leads to burnout, attrition, and quality issues. The best scale-ups get this right. They grow their teams AND their capabilities at the same time. If you're scaling right now, the question isn't just how fast can we hire. It's how well can we integrate people once they're here. What's one thing that's made the biggest difference when you've scaled teams quickly?