Let $V$ be a $n$-dimensional complex vector space and $\phi:V\to V$ a linear mapping. Prove that $$V = \ker(\phi^n) \oplus \text{image}(\phi^n)$$
Here is my attempt:
Since $\phi^n$ is also a linear mapping of $V$ into $V$, we have that $$\dim V = \dim \ker(\phi^n) + \dim \text{image}(\phi^n).$$ We only need only to show that this sum is direct, in other words, that $$\ker(\phi^n) \cap \text{image}(\phi^n) = \{0\}.$$ since this would imply $$V = \ker(\phi^n) + \text{image}(\phi^n)$$
We let $v \in \ker(\phi^n) \cap \text{image}(\phi^n)$ be arbitrary and aim to show that $v=0$. $\ker(\phi^n)$ is the generalized eigenspace of $\phi$ for the eigenvalue $0$, so there is a $k \leq n$ such that $\phi^k(v) = 0$.
This is where I'm stuck. How do I proceed from here? Is there a different way to do this?