How to Test the Market Without Burning the Bridge
- Apr 30
- 2 min read
There’s a pattern I see in almost every leader who’s considering a move.
They either stay stuck in analysis — running the stay-or-go calculation in their head for months without getting any closer to clarity — or they act impulsively when the frustration finally peaks and do something they haven’t fully thought through.
There’s a third option. I call it the Spring Fling.
The Spring Fling is a deliberate, time-bounded period of active market intelligence — usually four to six weeks — where you do one thing: gather real data about what’s actually out there, and what’s actually possible, before you make any decision at all.
Here’s how it works in practice.
You don’t announce you’re looking. You don’t update your LinkedIn headline. You don’t reach out to every recruiter in your inbox.
You reach out to three or four people you trust — former colleagues, people who know your work, one or two recruiters in your space — and you have honest, off-the-record conversations. Not about applying. About understanding the landscape. What’s moving in your field? What are organizations actually looking for at your level? What would a lateral or upward move realistically look like?
You let those conversations generate data. Not decisions — data.
What does the Spring Fling do? It answers two questions you can’t answer from the inside of your current role.
First: is the grass actually greener, or does it just look that way from here? Conversations with real people in the actual market will tell you more about your options in four weeks than two years of wondering.
Second: how do I feel when I’m having these conversations? If you come back from every coffee meeting energized and curious, that’s data. If you come back relieved that you’re not actually in the market, that’s data too.
At the end of the Spring Fling, you don’t have to have made a decision. But you’ll have something you didn’t have before: actual information about your options, and a much clearer sense of your own appetite.
The leaders who navigate career transitions well almost never make them impulsively or reactively. They gather intelligence first. They understand what they’re moving toward, not just what they’re moving away from.
The Spring Fling is how you get there — without committing to anything, and without burning a bridge you might still need.
Are you in a season where a Spring Fling might tell you something useful?
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