Presented by Eleven Canterbury

The Executive Transitions Program Sessions

“The program encourages self-reflection and reframes the next chapter. Seeing new possibilities and exploring untapped areas where our expertise from long career can be repurposed was eye-opening.”

Elina Kazan

Former VP Media Relations & Cause Marketing, Macy's

The Sessions (The sessions will vary by PROGRam.*)

Purpose and Brand

Moving from a corporate career to the next chapter is a significant life change. There will be challenges, both professionally and personally. Your social connections, behavior, and sense of self were likely directly related to your position, where you enjoyed having a team who delivered on your priorities, as well as other support staff and people who responded quickly to your calls and emails. Now, everything that was familiar is changing – and it’s important to remember change isn’t bad – and a whole new, exciting world is opening up for you.

This session will help you gain the perspective and skills to anticipate and navigate transition decisions in your next chapter. When living in alignment with your values and integrating your passions into what you do, you will be more enthusiastic, engaged, and unstoppable. Clarifying your purpose and big-picture outlook (your internal vision of what you want to achieve) will guide you as you create a roadmap toward achieving aspirations that will lead to fulfillment and a sense of well-being. A key part of that is framing your brand and your unique promise of value, a distinct and authentic representation of you. We will discuss insights to help you define your value proposition, position your strengths, and manage your choices to create future opportunities that fit your purpose and aspirations. These choices will require decision-making, prioritization, and learning from feedback.

Building a Digital Presence

Following a successful corporate career, developing a personal brand is a must. Your previous position securely defined you; shouldn’t it continue to do so? The short answer is no, it shouldn’t, and it won’t! Whether your interests lie in building a board portfolio, taking on interim leadership positions, becoming an expert witness, or pursuing any other type of opportunity, a well-defined and embraced personal brand will have more impact than words on a resume.

An industry expert will guide you through this area of personal development helping you define your personal brand online with a focus on creating and maximizing a successful LinkedIn profile. You will learn how to write a winning profile and best practices for profile headshots. You will also learn the importance of creating and sharing relevant content, and the ins and outs of networking within the platform.

Working with Private Equity

The world of Private Equity (PE) offers numerous positions where executives can use their experience as a foundation to add value. Some opportunities may be directly with the PE firm, such as assisting with acquisition due diligence. Within a PE firm’s portfolio of companies, there are also exciting opportunities to fill full-time and interim C-suite and Board Director positions.

Facilitated by a person who has navigated this journey, this session will cover the Private Equity business model, the roles available within PE firms and their portfolio companies, the compensation scheme, and how to pursue opportunities. You’ll learn essential considerations to keep in mind when pursuing a PE position.

Building a Successful Board Portfolio

While many senior executives are interested in pursuing board positions at public and private companies after leaving their corporate roles, the route to the board room can be an unmapped trail with a plethora of dead-ends. Today, the criteria for board directors is far more nuanced than it was even a few years ago. While networking is still critically important, equally essential is establishing that you have current-day values and skills that will support the growth and sustainability of the company.

Your facilitator will help you navigate both the corporate and board sides of the equation. As well as updating you on key issues like DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance), there are many other specific areas of expertise you need to know like cybersecurity, employee health and retention, and the post-pandemic world of leading a hybrid workforce. The session is facilitated by someone who has successfully navigated the challenges of pursuing and highlighting the route to securing board positions – from researching and crafting a targeted value proposition to tips on writing a board CV and interviewing for a position.

The Road to Certified Coaching

Executive coaching seems like a natural path for senior executives leaving full-time positions. You’ll discover whether it’s a route for you from an experienced facilitator who shares invaluable lessons learned in the process of becoming certified and building a successful Executive Coaching business and second career. Differences between mentorship and coaching will be explained, along with various types of coaching, core coaching skills required, and the tools and support needed to build a coaching practice.

Expert Witness: The Engagement Process and Delivery

What does it take to become and serve as an expert witness in litigation matters? This session explores the expert witness position from an Economic Consulting Firm’s point of view. You will learn how economic consulting firms work and what they look for in an expert witness. Discussions will cover key issues, including the litigation cycle from the filing of a complaint through to trial and resolution, different types of litigations, and what it means to be an expert witness and the integral role they play. Also discussed are the responsibilities of serving as an expert witness, including preparing expert reports, best practices for depositions, direct questioning and cross-examination, and standards and criteria for expert witnesses.

Work-Life Harmony

Transitioning from a corporate career can be both an exciting and a challenging time. Executives have deep commitments to, and close associations with their careers and employers. Moving on from their corporate identities so closely tied to their jobs and suddenly facing unstructured time can leave a void and be disorienting. But it is also an exciting time to focus on yourself, your family, and explore the many possibilities that await in this next chapter to add value to the world.

This session will focus on three key areas:

Framing your purpose and strategy: Finding your ‘why’, the ‘how’ and the ‘what” that differentiates your personal brand and your unique values. This requires optimizing your mental edge, and learning to distinguish what’s important from what’s urgent now that your time is your own.
Aligning your time and energy: Clarifying your boundaries and expectations enables delivering your personal brand and your unique values. Understanding what you can control or influence and most importantly shifting your focus from prioritizing what’s on your schedule to scheduling your priorities. Learning to find strength in uncertainty and deal with the many emotions, both good and challenging, that will arise as you transition to a new future.
Staying relevant and resilient: This is a time to deal with transitions and learn to play a new game. Leverage your uncertainty to become stronger, grow, find new challenges and explore new opportunities and thrive. A key element of that is evolving your emotional intelligence and self-care practices.

Embracing the Transition: Looking to the Future

This final session is an interactive discussion with facilitators and the cohort to review the sessions, compare notes and answer any questions. You’ll discuss next steps, including the creation of 30/60/90 day plans to set you on your journey to successfully building your next chapter.

*Purpose and Brand, Building a Digital Presence, Work-Life Harmony, and Embracing the Transition: Looking to the Future are included in every Program.