Welcome to the Westgate Weekly and home of the 90-Day Plan, downloaded by corporate executives worldwide.

The Board Brand: Lawyers on Boards (Conversation with Jon Olson)

In episode 54 of the Get Hired Up podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jon Olson, board advisor and cybersecurity specialist about serving as a fiduciary on a board of directors. 

Highlights:

🔴 Benefits of having a lawyer on the board

🔴 Effective board governance 

🔴 Securing a board seat

🔴 His career journey & lessons learned 

... And much more! 

Jon Olson joined Blackbaud as Senior Vice President and General Counsel in September 2008. He is responsible for Blackbaud's legal activities, including negotiating transactions, managing corporate governance activities, and legal compliance. Before joining the company, he was an attorney with Alcatel-Lucent. 

I hope you enjoy the recap of this episode! 

7th Annual Champagne Bistro Recap

We set meaningful intentions for 2024!

Yesterday a group of approximately 20 members of the Westgate Community joined our 7th Annual Champagne Bistro to set intentions for the coming 12 months. 

Some reactions from the event:

"Thanks for a lovely experience." DL in Arizona

"Thanks for hosting this, Maureen! It was so relaxing and now I'm even more excited about 2024!" LL in Toronto

"Thanks for this. This is the second year of doing this exercise and it's so interesting how it surfaces different "goals" than the linear exercise I do." NM in Ottawa

"That was excellent!!!" LS in Barrie, Ontario

Thank you to those who participated and offered feedback. 

Also, thank you to the other members of Westgate Team for helping make the Bistro a success! 

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My personal achievements rendered from the Champagne Bistro ...

One of my proudest accomplishments is taking possession of my Audi A4 in 2016. While I'm not a materialistic person, typically, the vehicle is a symbol of my hard work, commitment, and setting clear intentions for Westgate, which I launched in 2011. 

After leaving the corporate world in 2011, I became Westgate's first client. Knowing what I wanted to do, but not knowing how to achieve it, I created the Career Navigator Program (CNP). 

Now in its 13th year, the CNP is a sustainable strategy, framework, and executable plan that creates a pathway for building one's future business, board, or corporate career. 

The Champagne Bistro, introduced to me by the late Patricia Schuler (my then business advisor), helped me set the intention to create a professional services business that helps people become clear and discerning about their career strategy, while optimizing their leadership capabilities. 

Aligning career goals with personal values is one of the ways we help our clients get clear. Clarity optimizes decision-making enabling a transformational process.

I've delivered the Champagne Bistro dozens of times to hundreds of participants and the feedback is positive and the outcomes are powerful. 

A close friend disclosed that the Bistro helped her make the major life decision to retire early. One participant decided to visit his parents after a three-year silence. Another used the Bistro to choose a university major. Brenna, part of the Westgate Team, used the Bistro to purchase her first home during the height of the pandemic, against all odds. 

There are many others. 

We are grateful to have you as a member of the Westgate community and wish you, your family, and your team a healthy, happy, and optimized 2024. 

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

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