A guide for senior leaders who want to open conversations directly rather than wait for a vacancy. A good approach is a short, relevant business message to the right person. Most approaches fail on the first two words of that sentence.
By Daniel Sterenzon · Reviewed
An application answers a vacancy. An approach starts a conversation with someone who owns a business issue your experience is relevant to — whether or not a role exists. That changes everything about how it should be written.
It also means most approaches will not lead to a role, and should not be written as if they must. The aim is a useful exchange with the right person. Done properly, that is how senior opportunities often begin.
Start from a verified, dated reason: an expansion, a leadership change, a new entity, a published strategy. A business signal justifies research and a relevant message. It does not prove a vacancy, a budget or a hiring decision.
The most senior name is rarely the right first contact. Find the person responsible for the part of the business your experience touches — and confirm their current role before you write.
One concise, credible result that connects your record to their context. Not your career history. If you cannot state the connection in two sentences, you are not ready to send.
A prominent chair or group CEO may be several steps away from the function you could lead. Depending on the target, the relevant person may be a country GM, functional leader, operating-company executive, Talent Acquisition lead or a search consultant with a specific assignment.
Separate the operating company from its parent, investment owner and regional office. The Saudi Arabia guide and UAE guide show how to check entities and leadership against official sources before assuming who decides.
Order matters. Begin with people who already know your work, then credible second-degree introductions, then shared context — a former employer, a sector body, an event — and only then a direct message to someone with no connection to you.
Relationships, discretion and reputation carry real weight in Gulf business culture. A known professional relationship can establish context, but it does not guarantee a referral, and asking for one too early can cost you the relationship. Ask for perspective before you ask for an introduction.
Three parts, briefly: the observed business context and why it caught your attention; one credible result from your own record that connects to it; and a modest, specific next step — a short conversation, not a job.
What to leave out: any claim to know about an unannounced vacancy; an unrequested CV; implied introductions; urgency. Write it so the recipient can say yes in one line, and so that you would be comfortable if it were forwarded.
Record the organisation, source and date of the signal, the person, the reason for contact, the last action and the next one. Follow up once or twice with something that adds to the first message. Then stop. Silence is not rejection, but it is not an invitation either.
If you are employed, agree in advance which organisations and people are off-limits, and keep your approach consistent with your obligations to your current employer. Distinguish a useful discussion from an active hiring process, and record which one you are in.
Sterenzon works on the executive’s side: diagnosing the search, building positioning, researching organisations and stakeholders, preparing messages and reviewing the campaign. You review and normally send your own approaches. Recruitment and placement are outside the service.
The 60-day engagement is built around an agreed target; your proposal sets out the scope, deliverables and support. It can help when a credible leadership record is not translating into a clear target or consistent action. It does not guarantee introductions, interviews or employment.
Share your target role and markets, and what has happened when you have approached people directly. Daniel will review whether the advisory fits.
Confidential · Reviewed personally by Daniel