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NEWS & INSIGHTS
Insights on Career Reinvention & Strategy
Actionable career strategies for professionals ready to level up. Land executive roles, reinvent your career, build your business, and create more impact- from the team that does this every day.
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THE LEAP LIBRARY
Ideas That Change Careers
Explore practical insights and proven strategies on leadership, career reinvention, personal branding, networking, portfolio careers, and the future of work.
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How Mike Fisher Stopped Starting Over: The Skills You Built May Be the Key to Your Next Chapter
Your next career move may not require a new identity. It may require seeing the value in the one you already built. We’ll Discover Why career transitions are often less about starting over and more about recognizing transferable skills. How unlearning can be just as important as learning when you move into a new environment. Why the hidden market rewards people who are known for something specific. What leadership, resilience, focus, and adaptability have in common across ver
11 min read


Your Professional Reputation Shouldn't Depend On Your Employer
We’ll Discover: Why do you want to be in tune with what you are known for? Why do you need to stay active with your network at all times? How your reputation can outlast everything else going on in the job market. There was a time when your company name could do a lot of the talking for you. A recognizable logo on your résumé opened doors. A senior title gave you instant credibility. The company in your email signature told people where you had been and, in many cases, what y
7 min read


What Separates an Experienced Leader From a Truly Trusted Leader?
Why Trust, Judgment, and Credibility Matter More Than Experience Alone We’ll Discover: Why years of experience do not automatically create trust, credibility, or strong leadership. How trusted leaders earn confidence during difficult moments, not just successful ones. The behaviors that shape executive presence, leadership reputation, and long-term influence. Years of experience can earn you a seat at the table. Judgment, credibility, and trust determine what happens once you
5 min read


Tom Cortese On Turning A $400K Idea Into An $8.1 Billion Public Company
Sometimes the hardest career move is leaving the thing you spent years proving you could build. We’ll Discover: Why even your greatest career success can become a constraint when it no longer fits what you want next. How relationships, reputation, curiosity, and experimentation can create opportunities that a traditional job search never will. Why you do not always need to know what comes next before you know it is time to move. How failure and uncertainty can become valuable
7 min read


Feeling Stuck In Your Career? Your Success May Be The Reason
We’ll Discover: The hidden downside of becoming too successful at what you do. Why your reputation may be opening all the wrong doors. The question high achievers rarely stop to ask (and why answering it could completely change what you choose to do next.) What if the very things that made you successful are now making it harder to imagine what comes next? It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot because I see it in some of the most accomplished people I work with. Th
6 min read


5 Signs Your Personal Brand No Longer Matches Where Your Career Is Going
We’ll Discover: Why a strong reputation may actually hold you back. Why your personal brand may evolve when you aren’t even thinking about it. How your personal brand may change with you throughout your career. Your personal brand can work perfectly for the career you built and still hold you back from the career you want next. I see this often with accomplished leaders. They have years of experience, a strong reputation, impressive results, and a network that knows exactly
5 min read


Success, Achievement, & The "After"
We’ll Discover: The identity crisis nobody warns you about after success. Why the goals that got you here may be the wrong goals now. The surprising freedom that comes when you have nothing left to prove. We spend a lot of time talking about how to get there. How to become the executive. How to build the company. How to get the promotion, increase the compensation, expand the scope, make the big career move, or finally reach the level you spent years working toward. But there
6 min read


When Your Resume Looks Better Than Your Career Feels
We’ll Discover: Why does a successful resume not necessarily tell the whole story? How can you stay where you’re at and stay fulfilled in your job? Why you need to ask yourself the question: “What do I want my experience to make possible now?” There is a particular kind of career uncertainty that is difficult to explain because, from the outside, everything looks right. The title is impressive. The compensation is strong. The company has a good reputation. The résumé tells a
7 min read


What Do You Do After You've Already Won?
We’ll Discover: What does career success look like to you now? Have you considered that this next chapter may look different and what can it entail? Have you ever changed your view of success as you’ve changed your goal? Is it time for that? I think one of the hardest career questions isn't always, “How do I become successful?” For many accomplished executives and entrepreneurs, the harder question eventually becomes: “What do I want after I've already achieved the things I t
5 min read


You Didn't Work This Hard To Feel Trapped
We’ll Discover: Do you see your experience as an asset? If not, we’ll explore why this is true. Do you take action before you’re certain? We’ll look at why you should and how this can benefit you. Why your reputation matters so greatly and acts as a building block. Why it’s all about how you tell your story to get you to what’s next. There is a moment in many careers when you realize you have been operating with far more experience than you have been giving yourself credit
6 min read


Stop Looking for Your Dream Job. Start Building It.
We’ll Discover: Why does a job description not work for every type of role? How can you create the next chapter and the impact you will have? How to reframe your thinking about career change. Have you thought about who you are becoming? Learn how to focus your efforts on this and how it can help you. What if your dream job doesn't exist? Not because you haven't found it yet. Because it may not exist yet. We spend so much time searching for the right job title, the right comp
5 min read


How Executive Personal Brands Are Really Built
We’ll Discover: Is your brand telling the story of who you are today… or who you used to be? Why being great isn’t enough if the right people don’t know it. What makes someone unforgettable (and how do you become that person)? There is a lot of advice about building a personal brand. Post more. Be visible. Optimize your LinkedIn profile. Share your expertise. All of those things can help. But they aren't the brand. Your executive personal brand is what people believe about yo
5 min read


The Career Move That Looks Risky May Actually Be the Safer One
We’ll Discover: Is your comfort zone actually holding you back? Why the safest choice may not be as safe as it feels. The hidden risk of staying put. What could it cost you to keep doing what you’ve always done? Why your next career move shouldn’t be a reaction. How thinking a few moves ahead can completely change your trajectory. How much risk is actually right for you? Find the sweet spot between playing it too safe and taking a leap you’re not ready for. We talk about leav
5 min read


You Don’t Need a New Career. You May Need a New Way of Seeing Yourself.
We’ll Discover: Stuck… or on the edge of a breakthrough? Who are you when your old identity no longer fits? Is your next chapter already hiding in plain sight? What if I told you you're not stuck in the wrong career, you're just stuck in an old version of yourself? I’ve had conversations with a lot of accomplished professionals who tell me they feel stuck, and often the first thing they say is some version of, “I don’t know what I want to do next.” But when we start talking a
5 min read


Why High Achievers Get Stuck (And What Finally Gets Them Moving Again)
We’ll Discover: The most dangerous career trap for high achievers? It usually looks like success. What got you here may be the exact thing keeping you from what’s next. Working harder used to work. So why isn’t it working now? Your next big opportunity may already be forming in a room you’re not in. The question is: will anyone think of you? I’ve worked with thousands of ambitious professionals over the years, and I’ve noticed something that surprises people. The leaders who
4 min read


The Courage to Bet on Yourself: What Christina Tosi's Journey Teaches Us About Reinvention
Key Takeaways Reinvention begins with curiosity. You don't have to know exactly where you're going, you simply have to be willing to explore what keeps pulling you forward. Your personal brand is built through consistent action. The value you create over time shapes how opportunities find you. The hidden market is powered by relationships. Many of the best opportunities begin because someone already knows your strengths and trusts your perspective. Confidence follows action.
4 min read


Why Referrals Beat Resumes
The Hidden Career Advantage That Opens Doors Before Jobs Are Ever Posted Key Takeaways Many of the best career opportunities begin through conversations and relationships before they ever become job postings. A resume communicates your experience. A referral communicates trust in your leadership, judgment, and ability to deliver. Your personal brand helps others understand your value and makes you easier to recommend. The hidden job market is not about having secret connectio
6 min read


Stop Chasing Visibility. Start Creating Trust.
Why Trust, and Not Attention, Is The Real Driver of Career Growth. Key Takeaways Visibility gets attention. Trust creates opportunities. The biggest career opportunities often come through the hidden market — conversations happening when you are not in the room. Your personal brand is not your LinkedIn profile; it is the reputation you build through your actions. In the age of AI, credibility and judgment become more valuable because polished content is easier than ever to cr
9 min read


Confidence Is Built Backward
Key Takeaways Confidence is not a prerequisite for success—it is the result of taking action. The real formula is Action → Experience → Confidence, not the other way around. Every stretch opportunity builds evidence that changes how you see yourself. High performers often wait too long because they're uncomfortable being beginners again. Courage is choosing progress over certainty. Small, consistent actions compound into lasting confidence. Your next leap doesn't require conf
5 min read


The Person Who Got You Here Won’t Get You There: Why High Performers Get Stuck and How to Reinvent Your Career for the Next Level
Key Takeaway The skills that lead to early success don’t always translate to executive success. Advancing requires a shift from execution to leadership, visibility, and strategic influence. The next level is built on reputation, not just results. For years, I thought success worked like this: Work hard. Get results. Keep climbing. And honestly? For a while, it worked. That formula took me from the Air Force to engineering, to technical sales, to product, to VP. Every time I
7 min read
AS FEATURED IN
Leap Academy in the press
From Forbes to Entrepreneur, our work is recognized globally for helping leaders navigate career reinvention, executive growth, and the changing world of work.
ON THE MIC
Guest podcast appearances
Ilana appears as a guest speaker on many podcasts, sharing her approach to reinvention, career, and the future of work. Here are a few of our favorites.

Becoming Undone with Dr. Toby Brooks
Ilana Golan: Turning Setbacks into Success with Strategic Career Leaps
58 MIN

Mick Unplugged with Mick Hunt
Ilana Golan: The Power of Adaptability
37 MIN
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