Welcome to the Westgate Weekly and home of the 90-Day Plan, downloaded by more than 9,345 executives worldwide.

My call this week with a global executive recruiter ...

Last week I spoke with an international executive recruiter who works with CEOs in financial services, fintech, and technology sectors primarily in the United States and Canada, but he has clients in other countries, as well.

We discussed the challenges of transitions to the same industry (easy) and new industries (challenging). Changing industries, while possible, certainly involves a strategic approach to networking, trust, deep domain expertise, and distribution channels.

Advanced networking – Famous author of Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty, Harvey Mackay, encourages a lifelong approach to networking as a way of servant leadership. Serving as a resource to others will often end in a reciprocation (but this is not the reason to deepen this practice).

Trust – Reputation and personal brand are important especially when considering industry changes. Career marketing is a conversation you have with strangers and the messaging must reflect your value proposition and core values.

Domain expertise – Often under-rated as well, the expertise you offer today will be most valuable to a similar or same industry, which is why third-party recruiters prefer to work with candidates who are seeking a same-industry transition. Organizations are not interested in investing $80K in a retained search for a candidate they will need to train. The learning curve must be as short as possible, all things considered.

Distribution channels – You may be best served to directly contact companies rather than depend on recruiters if you’re considering an industry change. Consider relationships with adjacent industries through customers and suppliers to optimize your approach (but you must consider non-compete clauses in your employment contract--consult with an attorney). 

One way CEOs are utilizing recruiters

The recruiter explained that at any one time, CEOs are not hiring for their corporations, but they themselves are interested in making a transition. 

Often these CEOs want to transition into new industries. 

We discussed one asset that many leaders discount when they are planning a transition – their relationships with customers, suppliers, regulators, investors, and previous employers. 

Recently Maddie Shears and I recorded a podcast on industry changes. Access it by clicking the button below ...

Case Study: 

The same recruiter I spoke with encouraged me to share this story. Robin (a pseudonym) approached Westgate as a private client after 18 months of disappointing progress as he prepared to transition to a new industry from tobacco (a fictitious industry). 

Utilizing Westgate's Career Navigator Program, Robin had transitioned into a new role, nearly doubled his salary, and upleveled two job titles in a new industry within eight months. 

Robin was motivated to make the change because of a dawning values misalignment with the industry. He also had family-related challenges that required a retooling of his compensation. 

Coming Soon:

We will soon have an exciting announcement to make that will be of interest to executives who are considering a move as well as organizations seeking senior-level talent. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Podcast Topics

• Corporate Governance & Emerging Technologies
• IPO Options for Growing Tech Companies
• Trends in Financial Compliance 
• Advanced Communications (voice)
• Career Paths in Elite Cuisine

The 90-Day Brand Program

Deepen pivotal relationships with stakeholders and raise your visibility authentically with confidence!

Explore our 90-Day Brand program here.

We look forward to welcoming you into the
Westgate Family of success stories.

Nova Scotia storm shatters records

Late last week, my neck of the woods had a life-altering storm for most. We ended up with three months' worth of rain over the course of one day, which flooded our entire province (Friday night), inundated streets, and 25 bridges impacted (19 damaged and six completely destroyed) alongside forced evacuations and more than 80,000 people without power.

The downpour was so torrent it's referred to as "biblical proportions." The province ended up with an estimated 250 millimeters, which came down fast and furious. We haven't seen anything like this in nearly 50 years ...

Here is a photo of the highway not far from our family cottage. It’s truly remarkable the degree of devastation produced by the storm; well, it's unimaginable, I'd say. 

This has been an extraordinary event which fell on the heels of wildfires not very long ago and even Hurricane Fiona last fall. 

Some communities are still recovering from the large wildfire that started in late May, which led to evacuation orders for about 17,000 residents and destroyed over 150 homes. Many of us are continuing to grapple with the fallout of this historically unimaginable storm.

This was a severe hit for our province as we have repeatedly been called upon to pull together in the face of unprecedented climate impacts. However, we always look out for one another, check in with our neighbours, continue to support the locals, and offer gratitude to the emergency crews working overtime to keep us and our loved ones safe.

Have a safe and optimized week ahead. 

Maureen Farmer is a CEO advisor and personal branding strategist for next-level executives, investors, and board nominees. 

This e-letter is published weekly and you are receiving this because you have opted in or downloaded an asset from our website.

Westgate is a 100% independent professional career services firm.

Westgate Executive Branding and Career Consulting Inc. acknowledges that we are located in Mi'kma'ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People. We are all Treaty people.