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.

The culture of change for leaders in transition in the first 90 days

     Add this simple practice to your 90-day plan to optimize productivity faster while deepening stakeholder engagement.

     During the past five months, I've had the good fortune to tour around New York City and give talks to private equity leaders on visibility strategies for business leaders. As a business leader, your biggest asset is your brand, and optimizing your brand (aka, your reputation) will provide you with tremendous value and work for you when you're not present. 

     I remember my days in corporate when sitting around the conference table discussing a challenge and brainstorming ways to address the issue. Often, the names of two people in the organization were mentioned, Aveling and Elizabeth, who were both technology wizards and excellent at problem-solving. Aveling was more of a people champion and could rally employees, and Elizabeth was more of a technology guru who could debug software and deliver market releases under rapid-fire instruction and intense deadlines.

     They were often 'tapped on the shoulder' for big projects because they had excellent reputations for doing what they did very well. What they did also did well was to communicate their achievements and their plans to both their teams and senior management. Using company email messaging as a billboard, Aveling and Elizabeth built capacity for the organization by sharing their experiences with their teams. 

     Addressing VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) issues for leaders with new mandates is complex. The onboarding period in a new role is overwhelming for most and can lead to indecisiveness, which produces opportunity costs. Political issues often arise, and when, what, and how to communicate with stakeholders can feel uncertain. 

     With the pressures of the board, investors, and other stakeholders' expectations in the first 90 days, a simple strategy that can build trust and raise your visibility internally is an engagement tool that, when used consistently, will produce results that deepen engagement, making you look like a hero in front of the board and a competent fiduciary in your firm. 

     The newly appointed CEO of a midwestern technology company (Donald, a pseudonym) began his 90-day plan with a simple practice of emailing employees every Monday morning to recap his planned meetings for the week, including customer, company site, and supplier visits. The email recapped the previous week's visits, outcomes, and lessons learned.

     As the CEO of this large organization, he was legendary for his business successes, and employees admired him greatly. His weekly outreach became part of the organization's institutional memory and evolved into a valuable corporate asset, which was clearly a key tool in his leadership toolkit. 

     Donald never missed a week. The practice established trust because of its simple transparency, and the board loved it. Donald was promoted from CFO and became the first non-CPA CFO in the company's history. When I asked him why, he said, "Because they trusted me. The board knew I could get things done and would always honor my commitments."

     How do I structure an email like this? Use AIDA to help you. I learned this acronym at university decades ago. AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Detail, and Action. 

A: Grab attention with a statistic or novel idea

I: Command interest by providing context

D: Provide details to establish credibility

A: Provide a call to action

Here is an abbreviated version of Donald's weekly note: 

"Last week, I visited 13 site locations and met with 4 customers and 3 prospective customers, which is critical to achieving our Q2 business plan goals. During my travels, I learned that the market is changing, and there is more emphasis on cost control now than in the past several quarters, despite the economic headwinds we're seeing in North America. 

     I'm seeing an emphasis on localization practices for new plants and facilities as companies strive to maintain control over their supply chains. Next week, I'm traveling to Singapore, Dubai, and Sydney to meet with board members, and then I'll visit our offices in Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Jackson, California. 

See this article for more information on localization practices and how they impact the supply chain. 

Have a great week ahead!"

     Research by Harvard Business Review and other reputable organizations has determined that between 30% and 50% of new leaders will leave their roles before they've completed their mandate.

     At Westgate, we help boards and investors protect their investment in new leaders through personal branding and visibility practices that optimize the leader's leadership performance while building the organization's capacity and productivity. 

     If your board is interested in learning more about my 15-minute talk on visibility strategies, contact us at [email protected]. My talk serves as an excellent kickoff to strategic planning events, board meetings, and board dinners.

The Hamptons in June

     I'm delighted to share that I'll be speaking at the Hamptons Tech Week next week. One of the great benefits of actively networking and making new friends is the chance to share knowledge and learn from others in the business community. 

     I'd like to thank Stephen Sabo and Simon Bailie for their kind invitation to speak at this intimate conference of 350 investors, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders from iconic brands. It will be my first time visiting the Hamptons and I'm looking forward to attending the Women in Technology Breakfast as well. 

     This conference runs year-round, including locations in London (UK) and Napa (California). The link below will take you to the website where you can learn more.

     Why not join me? Let me know if you're interested and I can send details and introduce you to Stephen and Simon. 

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

New York City Part II

Learning to navigate New York City is a fun challenge that always leaves me in a state of wonder. Here is a new escalator for the Long Island Railroad at Grand Central Station. I've never been on such a steep escalator that truly takes your breath away because of its slope and its length. 

Here is the Manhattan skyline from the top of the Met. This was my first time visiting this iconic New York landmark but it won't be my last. The Met is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. It is the largest art museum in the Americas and the fourth-largest in the world. With 5.36 million visitors in 2023, it is the most-visited museum in the United States and the fourth-most visited art museum in the world (source: Wikipedia).

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

Maureen Farmer is a Leadership Optimization and Executive Branding Strategist for next-level executives, investors, and board nominees. 

     This e-letter is published weekly and you are receiving it because you have opted in or downloaded an asset from our website. Westgate is a 100% independent professional career services firm.

     Westgate Executive Branding 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.