Established in 2011,Westgate is a personal branding and career advisory services firm. We serve individual and corporate executives across industries, including private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Home of the Award-Winning 90-Day Plan.

Voice skills for business leaders

In Episode 71, The path to silence - how your tone can win or lose the deal, I get to speak with Marshall Davis Jones, a voice expert.

The tone of your voice can be an elusive ingredient in any communication. Misused or misplaced, it can destroy any sense of connection. Tone is everywhere. It's the snapshot and the snap judgment of a song, a look, or a feel. It's also a snapshot of our voice. In one tenth of a second, our speaking can make an impression. That's a very small window. The window sets the tone.

Marshall Davis Jones is the founder and CEO of MindBodySpeak, a leading company that helps leaders and organizations communicate effectively and authentically in high stakes situations. 

He has over 15 years of experience as a vocal communication expert, strategic storyteller, and effective presence coach, working with renowned speakers, industry leaders, and various organizations from youth development, private equity, and other businesses and law enforcement. 

He's also the author of Tonal Influence: A guide to listen better, speak clearer and set the tone.

New Appointment

Optima Board Services Group

I'm delighted to announce my appointment as Expert Advisor, Productivity Enablement for Optima Board Services Group. 

Led by CEO & Founder, Stephen Pitt-Walker, JD, FGIA, CISM, Optima Board Services Group (Optima) is an interdisciplinary board advisory firm that offers corporate governance, board performance, board leadership, legal and regulatory, risk management, and decision support advisory services.

Boards looking for ways to enhance their performance, strategic IQ, risk management, and confidence will benefit from Optima Board Services Group’s portfolio of decision support and advisory services.

Productivity Enablement includes:

🔴 Workplace Considerations: Trust, Culture, Psychological Safety, & Security

🔴 Political & Economic Factors: Business/Government Relations, Economic Considerations, Inflation, Business Economics & Capital Allocation Dynamics

🔴 Innovation & Automation

🔴 War for Talent & Labour Market Challenges
 

I'm looking forward to collaborating with my fellow advisors  on these important board-level topics (more information to follow). 

Champagne Bistro Re-Run:

We are pleased to offer a re-run of the annual Champagne Bistro. If you didn't have the chance to attend last month, join us again in early April (date to be confirmed). The event is 100% confidential and no participation is required. 

We are offering the program a second time because a few of our registrants were unable to join the call in January. We apologize for that inconvenience and would be delighted to have you join us.

Benefits of the Bistro:

🔴 Align your 2024 plan with your values  

🔴 Establish clarity for personal satisfaction

🔴 Create your action plan in this 45 minute program

Date: Saturday, April 6, 2024

Time: 4 - 4:45 pm Eastern Time

Location: Zoom

Cost: No cost--our gift to you

How to register: 

Reply to this email directly ([email protected]) and we will put your name on the list. You will receive a Zoom link the day of the event.

I look forward to hosting you. 

Career Advisory & Personal Branding Services
Serving clients globally since 2011.

International Women's Day 

Dr. Afua Cooper, a professor at Dalhousie University (Halifax, CANADA), is an author, a poet, a historian, and a political consciousness professor. 

She is also the founder of the Black Canadian Studies Association, of which she is currently the chair. 

In recognition of International Women's Day, Dr. Afua Cooper, was invited by the Minister (Hon. Twila Grosse) to the House of Assembly in Nova Scotia Halifax on March 07, 2024, for acknowledgment as a woman who inspires Inclusion.

She is the author of more than a dozen books, the most recent is The Halifax Explosion: 6 December 1917 at 9:05 in the Morning.
 

From left to right: The Honourable Twila Grosse (Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs, Dr. Afua Cooper, Karla Macfarlane (Speaker of the House), unknown person, and Habiba Daillo Cooper (author of Black in School). 

I was delighted to celebrate International Women's Day at lunch on Friday with my friend and colleague, Dr. Afua Cooper. 

Thank you for being part of the Westgate community. I hope you find our weekly newsletter helpful as it is a labor of love and service to you. Have an optimized week ahead. 

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

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Westgate is a 100% independent professional career services firm.

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.