About
Jon Bassford, JD, MBA, CAE
Jon Bassford is an operations professional and entrepreneur driven by his Curiosity! Curiosity is his super power and it has driven his personal and professional advancement. After law school, Jon put this curiosity to work launching, managing, and improving operations for venture backed startups to global nonprofits with impact! For Jon, there is nothing that curiosity can’t help. Today, Jon is known for his curiosity-driven leadership, helping organizations and individuals innovate, change, and grow through by adopting Curiosity as their superpower.
Throughout his life, Jon has embodied Curiosity as a superpower from his inquisitive nature as a kid to his skill sets as a professional. Although an all around good kid, Jon was the kind of kid who walked to the beat of his own drum and would often challenge beliefs he was raised with. Jon went on to major in philosophy with a minor in Political Science (an add-on after attending the Washington Semester Program). A natural student with a desire to keep the education moving forward, Jon went on to law school.
After law school, Jon was not quite sure what he wanted to do. He was always a smart and argumentative kid and heard for as long as he could remember, “You should be a lawyer.” So he went to law school. This was certainly an endeavor he sought and believes it is an educational experience like none other. However, when leaving law school, he was not sure what he wanted to do. He was offered a job working for a legal organization he was a member of in law school. Jon’s dream was to move to Washington, DC so the fact that they were located in Baltimore, MD (just an hour away) was a bonus! Seemed like it was meant to be.
Jon dove right into this role and helped bring about change IMMEDIATELY! Part of curiosity is having a keen eye and being able to ask the right questions. Those questions helped drive a 20% increase in revenue and 500% increase in programming. There were two additional bonuses with this role – working with young leaders and traveling the country. Jon has a passion for leadership and help others grow in theirs. Visiting campuses across the country led to him visiting 43 states and is on a mission still to hit all 50.
Jon continues this work in operations as well as working with young individuals to help them grow their leadership. He uses his curiosity to CONSTANTLY find NEW ways to help organizations and people grow. He continues this work under several brands and endeavors.
As much as Jon enjoyed this work, he saw his purpose being on the operations side of management having taken on EXTRA roles in addition to his primary duties. That is how he launched his operations career where he went on to hold VP and COO roles as well as launching Lateral Solutions, an operations management firm, working with nonprofits, small businesses, and venture-backed startups.
Latest posts from my blog
The Power of Curiosity in Leadership
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, leaders must be able to adapt and
Fuel Your Business Growth with Regular Operations Audits
Introduction Running a business can sometimes be like a ship in the ocean
The People Factor: How Employee Engagement Drives Operational Excellence
How can you tap the full potential of your team to drive sustainable
