Why Some Leaders Get Headhunted… And Others Get Overlooked

Insights from over 700 approaches in the fitness industry over the past 12 months

Over the last 12 months, I have personally approached more than 700 General Managers, Regional Directors and senior leaders across the UK fitness and leisure industry.

Seven hundred.

And I can tell you something with absolute certainty:

Two leaders can have almost identical careers.

One gets headhunted repeatedly. The other never gets approached.

The difference is rarely performance.

It is positioning.

And LinkedIn is where that positioning either works for you — or works against you.

LinkedIn Is Not a CV

At senior level, LinkedIn is not a static record of your employment history.

It is a commercial positioning document.

When I am headhunting, I am not reading profiles casually. I am scanning for signals:

• Seniority
• Scale
• Commercial ownership
• Measurable impact

If it is not clearly written, it does not count.

I cannot guess your P&L. I cannot assume your remit. I cannot infer your scope from a brand name.

If it is not visible, it is invisible.

What I See Repeatedly (After 700+ Approaches)

Most GM and Regional profiles rely on:

• Job titles
• Well-known brand names
• Generic responsibilities
• Narrative storytelling without metrics

And they look fine.

But fine does not trigger executive search.

At senior level, recruiters are looking for scale signals immediately.

Questions I need answered within seconds:

• What size P&L do you own?
• How many clubs?
• How many direct reports?
• What revenue responsibility?
• What geographic scope?
• What measurable growth have you delivered?

If those answers are not obvious, the profile drops down the shortlist.

Not because you are not strong.

Because you are under-positioned.

The Title Illusion Problem

Here is something the market does not talk about.

“Regional Director” does not automatically equal large scale.

One Regional may oversee:

• 6 clubs
• £4m revenue
• 8 managers

Another may oversee:

• 35 clubs
• £40m revenue
• 120 managers

Same title. Completely different scope.

If you do not quantify it, you blend into the noise.

And when I am running a retained search, noise gets filtered out quickly.

The 5 Areas That Separate Headhunted Profiles From Overlooked Ones

This is not theory. This is based on reviewing hundreds of senior profiles this year alone.

1. Executive Presence

Board-ready headshot. Clean background. Corporate polish.

Senior roles require senior presence.

2. Headline = Market Positioning

Your headline should communicate at least two of:

• Industry clarity
• Scope or geography
• A numerical signal

For example:

Regional Director | Multi-site Fitness Operator | 18 Clubs | £22m P&L

That profile surfaces differently in search than:

Regional Director | Fitness

3. About Section = Scale + Credibility + Results

If your About section reads like a career story without metrics, it weakens your positioning.

You must clearly show:

• Revenue responsibility
• P&L ownership
• Team size
• Geographic scope
• EBITDA improvement
• Growth delivery

Structure matters. Commercial tone matters.

4. Experience = What + Scale + Impact

Responsibilities are not enough.

Impact is what gets you headhunted.

Instead of:

Responsible for club performance.

Write:

Oversaw 12-site portfolio (£14m revenue), delivering 11% EBITDA improvement and 8% membership growth year-on-year.

That changes everything.

5. Visibility & Behaviour

Senior leaders who consistently get approached also:

• Post insight at least twice per month
• Share operational thinking
• Engage professionally with recruiters
• Reply politely, even when declining

Responsiveness increases future visibility.

That is simply how the system works.

The Market Reality

After approaching over 700 leaders in 12 months, here is the pattern:

The strongest operators are not always the most visible.

The most visible, commercially positioned leaders get approached first.

The market cannot promote what it cannot see.

At GM, Regional and Director level, your LinkedIn profile should:

• Immediately communicate commercial scale
• Demonstrate measurable impact
• Reinforce expertise
• Signal credibility
• Compete at executive search level

If it does not, you are not invisible.

You are under-positioned.

And in a competitive leadership market, that is the difference between being chased…

And being overlooked.