Strategic Career Planning

Over the past 10 weeks, I’ve interviewed 35 talent and learning leaders at Fortune 1000 companies for a report I’ll be releasing this fall. One of my favorite questions has been the very first one: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰?” With 105 priorities and counting, the responses vary widely given differences in industry, scope, and role (VP of Learning, talent, talent management, leadership development) but here is a slice of what has been shared so far: ➡️ AI and work transformation: Clarify what AI means for the workforce, its implications for roles, and how teams can adopt it to accelerate development and efficiency. ➡️ AI Coaching Pilot: Launch an AI-powered coaching pilot program across the organization to scale leadership development support. ➡️ Generative AI Upskilling: Upskill employees and leaders to effectively use generative AI in day-to-day work ➡️ Future of Work & Workforce Planning: Prepare for disruptions to job architecture by integrating human and digital workforces. Rethink responsibilities, structures, and collaboration models. ➡️ Change management: Embed change management capabilities at all levels, particularly around AI adoption. ➡️ New leadership Behaviors: Equip leaders with new capabilities to thrive in a changing environment, including adaptability, resilience, and the ability to lead in an AI-augmented workplace. ➡️ Skills and Career Paths - Creating paths by prioritized skills in our organization ➡️ Rethinking the Function: Redesign the talent and learning function to reflect disruption caused by AI ➡️ Change Leadership: Navigate a period of executive turnover and transition by stabilizing the leadership team, clarifying roles, and building confidence with functional business leaders. ➡️ Facilitating Connection: Partnering with our employee experience and workplace teams to use in-office team days for learning and connection ➡️ Linking Performance and Development: Redesign performance processes to connect directly to development, helping employees understand what growth means in practical and tangible terms. ➡️ Manager Development: Continue to strengthen manager capability and resources, ensuring managers are equipped to drive performance and support employee development ➡️ VP and SVP Development: Support and accelerate the growth of new vice presidents and senior vice presidents as they step into expanded leadership roles. ➡️ Building a Leadership Bench : Develop and execute a strategy for strengthening the leadership bench, with a focus on preparing our Top 200 leaders ➡️ AI/Learning : Using AI internally within the learning function and focusing on key skills in AI for client-facing practitioners ➡️ Academies For AI/Data Roles: Developing and rolling out an academy for our AI & Data Product Employees I’d love to hear your perspective: What stands out most to you about this list, or what themes are you seeing in this list?

As we move up the corporate ladder, we often find ourselves stagnating for no apparent reason. It is easy to blame the organization, the team, or the leader (and often they are to blame). Bringing about change, however, lies within us. One way to discover how we are holding ourselves back and then make the internal changes to succeed is by speaking with an executive or performance coach. Here's how executive coaches can help: - If you feel you have plateaued in your career: Feeling stuck and unsure of the next step? - If you are struggling with leadership challenges: Whether it's delegation, communication, or managing conflict - If you want to improve your work-life balance: Feeling overwhelmed by work? - If you are going through a major transition: A new role, company restructuring, or industry shift can all be challenging. Finding the right coach is crucial to truly make a difference. Else, it leads to frustration and a waste of a lot of money. - Ask colleagues, mentors, or your network for recommendations on coaches they've worked with. - Look for coaches with experience in your industry and expertise in the areas you want to develop. - Most coaches offer free consultations where you can discuss your goals and see if there's a good fit. - During the consultation, ask the coach about their approach, experience, and qualifications. Also, understand their methodology. Certain types of issues require the coach to speak with your leaders, peers, or subordinates. Does the coach do this level of intervention? - What has been the success the coach has delivered for others? Speak to a few coachees. Ask what were the reasons some coachees failed to achieve their goals under the coach. Assess whether the coach takes any responsibility or passes the blame on the coachee. Key factors to consider when evaluating a coach: - Chemistry: Do you feel comfortable and heard by the coach? - Coaching style: Does the coach's approach align with your learning style and personality? - Credentials: Look for coaches with relevant certifications and experience. Keep investing in yourself to upskill and grow. One way is through executive coaching. Follow this path if you feel it works for you. If you have a coaching success or failure story, share it for others to learn and do better. #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #CareerGrowth

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?

Have you seen the newly released U.S. Department of Labor AI framework for workforce development? In my latest article, I took a moment to break the new policy down into bite-sized points and included source links to save you some time. It's easy to overlook federal AI guidance, especially when the pace of AI innovation surpasses the pace of general AI understanding. But if you care about workforce modernization, artificial intelligence policy, or long-term business growth, this one deserves your attention. Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor issued Training and Employment Guidance Notice 07-25 outlining how AI should be integrated into federally funded workforce systems. This is not a theoretical conversation anymore. The World Economic Forum reports that 44 percent of core job skills are expected to change within five years. McKinsey & Company’s 2025 State of AI survey shows that 65 percent of organizations are already using generative AI in at least one function. When employer operations shift, workforce systems must follow. Here is what this federal AI framework signals for leaders: 🔹 Workforce modernization is moving from digitization to intelligence. Labor market analysis, job matching, and service delivery are expected to integrate AI with oversight. 🔹 Governance is not optional. Transparency, documentation, and compliance are embedded in the guidance. 🔹 Public and private sectors are converging. Agencies will look for partners who understand both AI capability and regulatory expectations. If you operate in education, workforce development, HR tech, national economic strategy, or business growth and modernization, this affects you. The most strategic leaders I know do not wait for headlines to force adjustment. They study policy signals early and position accordingly. How is your organization preparing for AI integration inside public workforce systems? If this perspective is useful, let's connect ~Dr. Kiesha King and subscribe to my newsletter for more on education strategy, AI workforce modernization, leadership and sustainable business growth. Disclaimer: All views are my own and do not represent the views of my employer or any affiliated organization.

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

Most talent acquisition operating models split cleanly into two layers: delivery and enablement. But here is the honest truth that most leaders avoid saying aloud: we keep trying to force every single recruiter to be a consultative, data-fluent strategist while simultaneously expecting them to crush a massive requisition load. The reality is that strategy becomes a byproduct of whoever has spare bandwidth, meaning it rarely happens at all. When we looked at how Blair Bennett, SVP of Global TA at PepsiCo, manages a 500-person organization for a $90 billion enterprise, we found a completely different architecture. She introduced a dedicated, centralized Strategy pillar with its own headcount, formalizing a product management lifecycle for how talent acquisition actually builds capabilities and senses future market shifts. Instead of trying to upskill every recruiter into an all-knowing strategic advisor, this model compartmentalizes strategy into a specialized group that handles talent intelligence, portfolio ROI, and workforce scenario modeling. The recruiters in the execution layer are then armed with the exact upstream tools and insights they need, transforming intake meetings from frantic guessing games into strategy-informed conversations. In this week’s newsletter, I break down PepsiCo's formalized value chain and look closely at their Talent Foresights team, a group explicitly tasked with task decomposition and mapping what human recruiting looks like alongside AI agents. If your current strategy function is just a secondary title tacked onto a leader's overpacked schedule, your team is building for today's urgency rather than tomorrow's transformation. 👇 Read the full breakdown of this operating model by following the link below.

🔄 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."

Artificial intelligence is transforming how organisations approach workforce strategy, especially in an M&A context. My workforce colleagues Victoria Jane McCullagh and Alex Murray from PwC's People and Deals team discuss how dealmakers can integrate AI to assess talent, drive value creation, and future-proof their deals. With AI increasingly shaping business priorities, their article explores practical steps to align talent strategies with technology and open up opportunities in due diligence, valuations, and workforce planning. #MergersAndAcquisitions #AI #Workforce #PwC

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!

𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐬’ 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝟔–𝟏𝟐 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 ! 📅 Mid‑2025 snapshot: 42% of CPOs expect no change in today’s uncertain labour market over the next year — signalling short‑term caution, even as long‑term transformation opportunities loom. 📉 Low vacancy rates, shifting worker expectations, and rapid AI adoption are reshaping how organisations plan, hire, and design work. 🎯 Top workforce strategy priorities for the year ahead: ➡️ Revising organisational structures ➡️ Fostering culture & purpose ➡️ Advancing workforce AI deployment 🤖 AI opportunities: job augmentation & redesign, career development, workflow enhancement, and upskilling. ⚠️ AI risks: skill atrophy if learning doesn’t keep pace. The message is clear — the future of work will be shaped by leaders who can balance innovation with human potential, according to a new interesting research published by World Economic Forum using data from a survey of more than 130 chief people officers at global employers across regions and industries, conducted between May and June 2025. 💡 Top 3 AI opportunities in the next 6–12 months: 1️⃣ Automation of repetitive and administrative tasks 2️⃣ Career development & upskilling to prepare employees for AI‑enhanced roles 3️⃣ Embedding AI into daily workflows, making it an integral part of business processes ✅ 𝙈𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬:  I believe we are entering a defining chapter for the people function based on these new findings. The role of HR — and especially the CHRO — has never been more strategic. From AI deployment and automation to addressing mental health concerns and value polarisation, today’s leaders are navigating a workplace in constant transformation. What stands out to me is that technology and humanity are no longer separate conversations — they are deeply intertwined. The organisations that will thrive are those that can embrace innovation without losing sight of the human experience. 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔: 🌟 For Organisations: ✅ Integrate AI with purpose — focus on augmentation, not just automation, ensuring technology enhances human potential. ✅ Invest in continuous reskilling — make learning and specially AI - a cultural norm so skills evolve as fast as the market. ✅ Prioritise mental health and inclusion — embed well‑being, DEIB, and psychological safety into the fabric of work. ✅ Redesign work for agility — adapt structures, workflows, and roles to meet shifting business and employee needs. 🙏Thank you World Economic Forum researchers team for sharing these insightful findings: Adèle Jacquard Isabelle Leliaert Till Alexander Leopold 🔑 How can organisations embrace AI and automation while ensuring the human experience remains at the heart of work? #CHROLeadership #FutureOfWork #WorkforceAI #HRLeadership