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.

Get ready for the second half of Q2 & beyond

     Helping business leaders communicate their vision to selected audiences, including investors, boards, clients, regulators, and other stakeholders, is a signature service we offer at Westgate Executive Branding. 

    A productivity optimizer, personal branding optimizes your performance by short circuiting the time and effort required to identify, target, and speak to the right people at the right time with the right solution. 

    Executive branding is a precision tool that cuts quickly, deeply, and cleanly. When your board, CEO, leadership team, or investors are seeking results in a prescribed timeframe, you need a trusted process.

    Over the last 12 years, our team has created a suite of precision tools to reduce the time it takes to access the right markets, while improving confidence and clarity. 

   Throughout Q1 and now to date in Q2, the people in my global business network are sharing with me that although they are busy planning for the second half of the year, business is very quiet. In the early years of my own advisory business, my wonderful advisor, Pat Schuler, (late) strongly advised her clients to seriously invest in marketing and networking activities during the quiet business periods. 

   Whether you are a PE professional, CEO, business advisor, or a professional seeking an industry or firm change, these principles are evergreen (or should be). Top of mind is first to find and your personal brand will do the heavy lifting for you when you invest the effort in enriching it. 

   “In a recent Grant Thornton M&A survey, the authors are sharing the optimism of M&A professionals, with 81% of those surveyed expecting an increase in deal volume over the next six months. This is grounded in positive economic indicators, technological advancements, and an abundance of private equity funds ready for deployment, suggesting a vibrant period ahead for mergers and acquisitions.”

To recap, the Components of a CEO personal brand include eight dimensions. 

1) Standards―this dimension included nine items used to measure a business CEO’s working standards. This dimension includes the terms process focus, financial focus, rule orientation, experience, strategy, planning, dedication, efficiency, and professionalism.

2) Competency―this dimension includes eight terms: toughness, creativity, consistency, tenacity, organizational skills, emotional intelligence, resoluteness, and thoughtfulness.

3) Charisma―this dimension includes seven items needed in order to measure a business CEO’s personal charisma, including ambition, charisma, leading ability, sense of environment, self-confidence, strategic vision, and mediation skills. Each of these items addresses a separate aspect of a CEO’s image and is applicable insofar as respondent knows who he or she is.

4) Style―this dimension includes seven facets of a business CEO’s individual personality. This dimension contains the terms outgoing, curiosity, human spirit, energy, daring, independence, and imagination.

5) Values―this dimension includes eight items to measure a business CEO’s work values. The terms for this dimension are family security, happiness, friendliness, politeness, simplicity, humility and modesty, stability, and amiability.

6) Character―this dimension includes six terms to measure a business CEO’s individual character, including reliability, commitment, honesty, obliging, justness, and responsibility.

7) Leadership―this dimension includes eight items used to measure a business CEO’s leadership skills, including cooperativeness, demonstrated trust toward subordinates, respect for others, willingness to accept suggestions, forgiveness, communication, expectations of followers, and leadership skills (source: Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies).

   Our team at Westgate has prepared a checklist of activities to inspire you during this lull in the global economy. I hope you find it useful. 

Women of Leadership Conference

    On Thursday, April 25, I attended the 11th annual Women of Leadership Conference for the Association for Corporate Growth New York at the Athletic Club of New York. This conference is one of my favorite professional development and networking events in the city where 276 women in the investments community gather to collaborate and share industry knowledge

    The photo above is a Fireside Chat "Game Changers: Women Leveling the Playing Field in Sports" hosted by executives from the National Basketball Association (NBA), Leah Wilcox and Cheryl Stallings, moderated by Claudine Cohen, Managing Principal of CohnReznick. 

     The event is an industry highlight for me and I always enjoy the lessons learned and treasure the relationships established. 

     Let me know if you're interested in attending next year. 

The Hamptons in June

     I'm delighted to share that I'll be speaking at the Hamptons Tech Week in June. 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. 

More adventures in New York City

     My recent visit to New York City has been full of adventure with wonderful new friends and experiences. I had the very good fortune to attend a private concert recital in Manhattan on Saturday evening. 

     Radhika Samson is a sitar artist of the young generation. She is under the able guidance of the world renowned Hansaveena maestro Pandit Barun Kumar Pal, a senior disciple of Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar. She has been under the traditional guru shihsya paramara with her guru, as a disciple of Ravi Shankar Institute of Music and Performing Arts established in New Delhi. 

     This was my first sitar concert experience but it won't be my last. 

     Here is Pilot below, posing with me next to this beautiful piano on our last morning together after 10 days of fun and companionship in the Upper West Side where I stayed with this wonderful canine companion while her puppy parents were traveling. 

      Pilot and I explored Riverside Park overlooking the beautiful Hudson River, Grant's Tomb, and the wonderful neighborhood of pubs, restaurants, and coffee shops. 

     I'm now visiting a wonderful friend and setting up my new temporary virtual office for the next two weeks in the beautiful neighborhood of Forest Hills in Queens. 

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

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. 

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     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.