Empowering Growth
Working with leaders and their teams to bridge strategy and execution, to build capacity, generate alignment, and drive growth.
Empowering Growth
Working with leaders and their teams to bridge strategy and execution, to build capacity, generate alignment,
and drive growth.
How We Help Scale Organizations
Build key skills in your team (and your leadership),
develop competitive advantage, alignment, and growth.
An integrated program to drive significant change: Builds capacity to connect your strategy and execution.
12-month CPD/CE program with monthly virtual presentations and weekly micro-learning reinforcements.
Offsite, onsite or virtual – take the time to work on your business to regroup, align, and kickoff your next phase of growth.
Improve business acumen and management skills with MBA-in-a-Day and Management Essentials Programs.
Motivate your team, launch an initiative, and deliver a strong message... all aligned with your priorities.
Upskill key employees with specific and practical self-paced learning to sharpen core business and marketing skills.
Content and training partnership options to amplify your existing offerings
to clients and coaches.
Gainsharing and licensing options to save time, deliver member value, and
earn non-dues revenue.
How We Help
Scale Organizations
Build key skills in your team
(and your leadership),
develop competitive advantage,
alignment, and growth.
An integrated program to drive significant change: Builds capacity to connect your strategy and execution.
12-month CPD/CE program with monthly virtual presentations and weekly micro-learning reinforcements.
Upskill key employees with specific and practical self-paced learning to sharpen core business and marketing skills.
Improve business acumen and management skills with MBA-in-a-Day and Management Essentials Programs
Keynotes at Kick-offs and Conferences
Motivate your team, launch an initiative, and deliver a strong message... all aligned with your priorities.
Content and training partnership options to amplify your existing offerings.
Gainsharing options to save time,
deliver member value,
and earn non-dues revenue.
Working Together
We'll start by asking you a few questions:
1.
What are the key challenges
you are facing?
What are you obstacles to organizational growth? Where are the areas of friction? And what are your priorities, strategically and tactically? We'll start with a discovery call to understand these questions, then identify the knowledge gaps
that need to be addressed.
2.
What are the priority skills
your team needs?
Where are you spinning your wheels? Does your sales and marketing need a boost? Do you need to breathe new life into your strategic thinking, innovation, or critical thinking capabilities? Or it's your managers that need support. Or perhaps there are tactical skill upgrades that can make a difference.
3.
What are the best ways to
support you
to reach your goals?
4.
Live in-person,
Virtual, or Self-paced?
For coaching and continuing professional development, we recommend doing these "virtually", as this minimizes travel costs and time away from the office. It also means that people can access the training from geographically dispersed locations. For retreats, management education, and kick-offs/conferences, there are powerful advantages to bringing people together "live" in person:
improved teamwork,
and the "hallway" conversations.
Working Together
We'll start by asking you a few questions:
1.
What are the key challenges you are facing?
What are you obstacles to organizational growth? Where are the areas of friction? And what are your priorities, strategically and tactically? We'll start with a discovery call to understand these questions, then identify the knowledge gaps that need to be addressed.
2.
What are the priority skills your team needs?
Where are you spinning your wheels? Does your sales and marketing need a boost? Do you need to breathe new life into your strategic thinking, innovation, or critical thinking capabilities? Or it's your managers that need support. Or perhaps there are tactical skill upgrades that can make a difference.
3.
What are the best ways to support you
to reach your goals?
4.
Live in-person,
Virtual, or Self-paced?
For coaching and continuing professional development, we recommend doing these "virtually", as this minimizes travel costs and time away from the office. It also means that people can access the training from geographically dispersed locations. For retreats, management education, and kick-offs/conferences, there are powerful advantages to bringing people together "live" in person: improved teamwork, and the "hallway" conversations.
Working Together
We'll start by asking you a few questions:
1.
What are the key challenges you are facing?
What are you obstacles to organizational growth? Where are the areas of friction? And what are your priorities, strategically and tactically? We'll start with a discovery call to understand these questions, then identify the knowledge gaps that need to be addressed.
2.
What are the priority skills your team needs?
Where are you spinning your wheels? Does your sales and marketing need a boost? Do you need to breathe new life into your strategic thinking, innovation, or critical thinking capabilities? Or it's your managers that need support. Or perhaps there are tactical skill upgrades that can make a difference.
3.
What are the best ways to support you
to reach your goals?
4.
Live in-person,
Virtual, or Self-paced?
For coaching and continuing professional development, we recommend doing these "virtually", as this minimizes travel costs and time away from the office. It also means that people can access the training from geographically dispersed locations. For retreats, management education, and kick-offs/conferences, there are powerful advantages to bringing people together "live" in person: improved teamwork, and the "hallway" conversations.
Join the live recordings of our Q&A sessions for leaders
Get the pulse on topical leadership and strategy issues, ask your pressing questions,
and hear practical solutions in our monthly fast-paced, small group Q&A sessions for leaders.
(No cost. Come for new ideas. Questions are welcome.)
Browse and register for
upcoming Q&A sessions.
Get the invites to our Q&A sessions.
Send us an email at [email protected].
Building Your Businesswith Partnerships
Tuesday, December 3 at 12 noon ET
Partnerships are tremendously valuable in your business growth strategy. They can be used for virtually anything: delivery in areas you don’t have experience in, to help cover an operational blindspot, for referrals and direct growth, to complete a product offering, affiliate deals, gainsharing, licensing… need we say more?
So let’s take the hour to talk strategy and tactics for developing
win-win partnerships:
• The decision to build it internally… or engage a partner.
• Building external partnerships.
• Strategic alliances and joint ventures.
• When things don’t go as planned.
Building a One-Page Marketing Strategy
Tuesday, January 14 at 12 noon ET
Marketing is a huge part of moving any business forward. More than having a “marketing department”, or outsourcing your marketing to a third-party, it needs to be embedded into every part of your business – from tech to HR to digital.
But when not every employee is a “marketer”, how can this be achieved? This episode will lean into:
• How do you collaborate with your marketers?
• How does your organizational vision get transmitted?
• When do you rely on “the experts” and when do you veto with your “gut”?
• How to set marketing priorities? (It all takes time, after all…)
Join our upcoming
Informed Decisions Podcast
Get the pulse of topical issues and hear practical solutions in our monthly small group webinars for leaders.
Format: 15-20 minute presentation
followed by your Q&A
(no cost, just bring your questions).
Get the invites to our monthly webinars. Send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll put you on the VIP invite list.
See all our upcoming monthly events.
Building Your Businesswith Partnerships
Tuesday, December 3 at 12 noon ET
Partnerships are tremendously valuable in your business growth strategy. They can be used for virtually anything: delivery in areas you don’t have experience in, to help cover an operational blindspot, for referrals and direct growth, to complete a product offering, affiliate deals, gainsharing, licensing… need we say more?
So let’s take the hour to talk strategy and tactics for developing
win-win partnerships:
• The decision to build it internally… or engage a partner.
• Building external partnerships.
• Strategic alliances and joint ventures.
• When things don’t go as planned.
Building a One-PageMarketing Strategy
Tuesday, January 14 at 12 noon ET
Marketing is a huge part of moving any business forward. More than having a “marketing department”, or outsourcing your marketing to a third-party, it needs to be embedded into every part of your business – from tech to HR to digital.
But when not every employee is a “marketer”, how can this be achieved? This episode will lean into:
• How do you collaborate with your marketers?
• How does your organizational vision get transmitted?
• When do you rely on “the experts” and when do you veto with your “gut”?
• How to set marketing priorities? (It all takes time, after all…)
Praise for
Informed Decisions
"Really insightful. There are things I hadn't considered. I thought it was great and I appreciate it."
Darla Wright,
American Association of Veterinary State Boards
"I want to thank you very much Randall, and Ronja for your facilitating. A lot of stuff percolating over here so I really appreciate it."
Randall Ettinger
Real Estate Investment & Development,
Tiger 21 Montreal Chair
"I was incredibly impressed how you made the whole thing a constant learning process
– so valuable."
Jason Croft
Media Leads
"Great guidance on what's important."
John DiBenedetto
Cmind Inc.
"Brilliant insights, thank you!"
Donald Cooper
The Donald Cooper Corporation
"Thank you for the ideas and tips!"
Kayce Halstead
Association of Clinical Endocrinology
"Great session!"
Nicole Blankenship
Board Member, Well Child Centre
"Thank you SO much. Very thoughtful session. This has given me lots of ideas."
Viviana Urdaneta Melo
Board Member, EMDR International Association
“ I really enjoy it. I find it really high value. I love the interaction between Ronja and Randall, and I had a lot of questions answered – thank you
so much!“
Geralyn Ochab
Augmentr Inc.
“This was great!”
Bob Lank
Lank Consulting Group
“[Randall and Ronja] do a g-r-e-a-t job to make learning sessions successful. I like how Ronja has prepared questions, and also welcomes the group's input. Randall is brilliant at anything on which he opines – truly helpful. Well done.
Thank you.”
Lyn McDonell
The Accountability Group, Inc.
"I've enjoyed the discussion, this was good, thank you."
Jerry Cukier
Crowe Soberman
"Thank you, good information."
David Barned
Master Fluid Solutions
“Very helpful – thank you very much!”
Leona Wilson
Armillary Business Group Corp
“I’m grateful for such a varying and engaging discussion – thank you! ”
Elizabeth
Endocrine Society
“Many good questions from Ronja and great discussion.”
Scott Sugden
“This is very valuable.”
Cam Clark
Pattison Media
"You did a good job of highlighting and identifying some different modalities and strengths associated with them. It gives me some added confidence in understanding when to apply them, and gives me the tools and the language to have conversations and make decisions."
Nicklaus Csuzdi
Sr. Manager, Strategy and Communications, Hands TheFamilyHelpNetwork.ca
Praise for Informed Decisions
"You did a good job of highlighting and identifying some different modalities and strengths associated with them. It gives me some added confidence in understanding when to apply them, and gives me the tools and the language to have conversations and make decisions." - Nicklaus Csuzdi Sr. Manager, Strategy and Communications, Hands TheFamilyHelpNetwork.ca
"Really insightful. There are things I hadn't considered. I though it was great and I appreciate it." – Darla Wright, American Association of Veterinary State Boards
"I was incredibly impressed how you made the whole thing a constant learning process – so valuable." – Jason Croft, Media Leads
"Great guidance on what's important." – John DiBenedetto, Cmind Inc.
"Brilliant insights, thank you!" – Donald Cooper, The Donald Cooper Corporation
"Thank you for the ideas and tips!" – Kayce Halstead, Association of Clinical Endocrinology
"Great session!" – Nicole Blankenship, Board Member, Well Child Centre
"Thank you SO much. Very thoughtful session. This has given me lots of ideas." – Viviana Urdaneta Melo, Board Member, EMDR International Association
“This was great!” – Bob Lank, Lank Consulting Group
“ I really enjoy it. I find it really high value. I love the interaction between Ronja and Randall, and I had a lot of questions answered – thank you so much! - Geralyn Ochab, Augmentr Inc.
“[Randall and Ronja] do a g-r-e-a-t job to make learning sessions successful. I like how Ronja has prepared questions, and also welcomes the group's input. Randall is brilliant at anything on which he opines – truly helpful. Well done. Thank you.” – Lyn McDonell, The Accountability Group, Inc.
"I've enjoyed the discussion, this was good, thank you." – Jerry Cukier, Crowe Soberman
"Thank you, good information." – David Barned, Master Fluid Solutions
“Very helpful – thank you very much!” – Leona Wilson, Armillary Business Group Corp
“I’m grateful for such a varying and engaging discussion – thank you! ”
– Elizabeth, Endocrine Society
“Many good questions from Ronja and great discussion.” – Scott Sugden
“This is very valuable.” – Cam Clark, Pattison Media
"I want to thank you very much Randall, and Ronja for your facilitating. A lot of stuff percolating over here so I really appreciate it." – Randall Ettinger, Real Estate Investment & Development, Tiger 21 Montreal Chair
NEW!
Weekly Focus Hours!
Wednesdays at 1 pm ET
and Fridays at 9 am ET!
Join the Braintrust Focus Hours
Looking for a powerful way
to get things done?
This summer, join other leaders at the Braintrust Professional Institute
Focus Hours.
We’ll meet as a group on Zoom,
plow through our to-do lists,
and then continue on with our day.
Limited to 12 participants.
(no cost, and still slots left!)
Join our Weekly Focus Hours!
Weekly on Wednesdays at 1 pm ET and Fridays at 9 am ET
Looking for a powerful way to get things done?
This summer, join other leaders at the Braintrust Professional Institute Focus Hours.
We’ll meet as a group on Zoom, plow through our to-do lists, and then continue on with our day.
Limited to 12 participants. (no cost, and still slots left!)
See us in action (and learn more about how we think)
Listen in to these clips from our monthly Q&A sessions for leaders.
As a leader, you motivate and set expectations for everyone within your organization… but what about yourself?
For your partners?
For your partners? And for your leadership team?
Many leaders are feeling the challenge of steering their ship through recession, inflation, and economic uncertainty.
In this session I’ll share some very different strategies and non-traditional approaches that leaders can use to recession-proof their business. (And to preserve cash.)
Delegation Skills, Leadership and Business Growth
Explore our full library of leadership and strategy Q&A sessions.
And register to join (or just listen in on) upcoming live sessions: See list of events.
We welcome your topic suggestions! Send your suggestions to [email protected]!
See us in action
(and learn more about how we think)
Listen in to these clips from
our monthly Q&A sessions for leaders.
As a leader, you motivate and set expectations for everyone within your organization… but what about yourself?
For your partners?
For your partners? And for your leadership team?
Recession-Proofing
Your Organization
Many leaders are feeling the challenge of steering their ship through recession, inflation, and economic uncertainty.
In this session I’ll share some very different strategies and non-traditional approaches that leaders can use to recession-proof their business. (And to preserve cash.)
Delegation Skills,
Leadership and
Business Growth
Explore our full library of leadership and strategy Q&A sessions.
And register to join (or just listen in on) upcoming live sessions: See list of events.
We welcome your topic suggestions! Send your suggestions to [email protected]!
How "healthy" is your organization? And when is the right time to invest in external support?
Take the test.
(Diagnostic tool for download)
As you lead your organization through evolutions and transitions, there are always changing needs (and fires to put out). For all the time, effort, and stress that comes with leadership, you can't help but wonder: Can I do better? Am I missing something? And are there changes I need to make to take my organization to the next level?
Take our organizational health diagnostic test.
Download 83 Opportunities for Business Growth and grade your performance on Strategy, Marketing, Sales, Client Experience, People, Technology, Risk, and more.
Download 83 Opportunities for Business Growth and grade your performance on Strategy, Marketing, Sales, Client Experience, People, Technology, Risk, and more.
How "healthy" is your organization? And when is the right time to invest in external support?
Take the test.
(Diagnostic tool for download)
As you lead your organization through evolutions and transitions, there are always changing needs (and fires to put out). For all the time, effort, and stress that comes with leadership, you can't help but wonder: Can I do better? Am I missing something? And are there changes I need to make to take my organization to the next level?
Take our organizational health diagnostic test.
Download 83 Opportunities for Business Growth and grade your performance on Strategy, Marketing, Sales, Client Experience, People, Technology, Risk, and more.
What people are saying
about Randall
"A top number one communicator and visionary with excellent skills and technical knowledge. I can recommend Randall without reservation."
Bob Coffey
Vice Chair, KPMG
"Randall's astute counsel and strategic perspective have been invaluable to me as the CEO. His knowledge across the broad range of strategy, marketing, and technology has been invaluable."
Kirk Layton
President and Founder, eServus
"Randall has the unique ability to cut to the heart of the issue and provides concrete ideas that change the way you think and clarify
what needs to be done."
Cass Bayley
President, Bayley Group
"Randall is a perceptive, highly innovative thinker with an acute awareness of the fundamental principles of business."
Patrick Ferrier
President, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Higher-Ed
What people are saying about Randall
"A top number one communicator and visionary with excellent skills and technical knowledge. I can recommend Randall without reservation."
Bob Coffey
Vice Chair, KPMG
"Randall's astute counsel and strategic perspective have been invaluable to me as the CEO. His knowledge across the broad range of strategy, marketing, and technology has been invaluable."
Kirk Layton
President and Founder, eServus
"Randall has the unique ability to cut to the heart of the issue and provides concrete ideas that change the way you think and clarify what needs to be done."
Cass Bayley
President, Bayley Group
"Randall is a perceptive, highly innovative thinker with an acute awareness of the fundamental principles of business."
Patrick Ferrier
President, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Higher-Ed
Frequenty Asked Questions
How do I drive change in my organization? How can the Braintrust Professional Institute help?
Rarely will change or growth happen with a “one-and-done” approach: there must be alignment, common vocabulary, skills, and motivation, at all levels of the organization. We support growing organizations with either an integrated, multi-layered approach or à la carte support: leadership coaching, leadership retreats, management and team training, ongoing Continuing Professional Development, self-paced courses, and keynote presentations. We focus on key dimensions of leadership, strategy, marketing, people, and entrepreneurial success.
How does the Braintrust Professional Institute support leaders of growing organizations?
Every leader is different, and every organization is different; and the supports that a leader and their organization requires also will be unique. In terms of where to start: some clients start with a keynote to create motivation and introduce concepts, then move to monthly CPD for team upskilling, then use management training to reinforce the learning. Other clients start with C-level coaching, then a leadership retreat to align the management team, then follow with coaching to key employees, etc.
We already work with an external partner and/or have internal resources – how would the Braintrust Professional Institute fit in?
We work well with others, and will always work with internal resources and external partners when they are in place. We are happy to address any gaps in your learning and development strategy, work exclusively with a key group or division, or somewhere in between. Of course, we would welcome the chance to prove ourselves with an initial engagement – particularly if your current provider doesn’t have our background or skill sets. Sometimes a new approach will yield new results.
What experience do you have working with multinational/global enterprises?
Our experience comes from advising - and working at - large global and national firms… and some of the most innovative “challenger” boutiques. We’ve worked with partnerships, corporate entities, and not-for-profits - they’re all quite different. Since must of our work is based on frameworks and models, we can scale up… and also down. (We’ve also built and sold several start-ups ourselves, and coached/advised founders as they’ve grown their business: we understand cashflow, making payroll, and the changes that are needed with growth.) Some of our programs (coaching or retreats, for example), are unique individual or group experiences. But the remainder of our programs can be delivered at scale.
Help me understand how you charge for your services.
There are far more expensive providers than us, and there are those that don’t have our level of experience or skill – in terms of fees, we’re in the middle. We build every quotation from the ground up: we include the appropriate amount of research, interviews, IP, dates, etc, and then arrive at a custom-for-you “all-in” quotation. We don’t charge by the hour, and you will never receive a “surprise” invoice from us. Before we have our introductory conversation, a useful exercise is to determine the size/scale of the problem you’re looking to solve, or the opportunity/potential that you’re looking to take advantage of. This will help you determine whether our particular approach is “right-sized”: a $10,000 solution makes no economic sense if you have a $10 problem. And a $10 solution won’t move the needle with a $10,000 problem.
How do we know that you can deliver?
Listen to our “Informed Decisions” podcast to get a sense of how we think. Then read the recommendations on our individual LinkedIn pages, and ask for our credentials documents. We’re also happy to provide client references.
Where do we start?
Give us a call to set up a meeting (no commitment and no cost) and let’s see if we are a good fit. Here’s our calendar link: www.RandallCraig.net/30.
Frequenty Asked Questions
How much time will your online professional development courses take?
The more effort you put into each action item, the greater your impact will be. Our two comprehensive courses (Thought Leadership, Trusted Advisor), are definitely not a "sit back and be entertained" training: they are zero-fluff. They have been designed to minimize the amount of your time listening, in order to give you more time to actually execute. For our shorter courses, they are designed to illuminate a particular topic area, and are also zero fluff: time commitment depends on how deeply you wish to implement any of the frameworks and concepts that were introduced.
What is Randall's background?
Randall has founded several successful start-ups, held a long-time position at KPMG, and was a senior executive at an American public company. He is the author 8 books, including The Everything Guide to Starting an Online Business, has taught at numerous executive education programs, and frequently appears as an expert in the media. Beyond his role as the CEO of the Braintrust Professional Institute, Randall divides his time between coaching leaders on how to scale their businesses, writing, and sharing his knowledge on digital strategy as a conference speaker. Randall has served on numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards, and has earned an FCMC, CFA, MBA, CSP, and a Black Belt in Karate. Randall has also been inducted into the Speaking Hall of Fame.
Does the Braintrust Professional Institute deliver custom programs?
Yes! We all deliver both custom programs, as well as "point" training on more than 58 topics across the areas of leadership, strategy, marketing, and business development. We also deliver integrated programs that include both live training and leadership coaching. Interested in learning more?
Reach out at [email protected] or www.RandallCraig.net/30 to have a short conversation.
What support can I expect?
Support is provided via the four coaching calls that take place during the course. For tech issues, email us at any time. We want to make sure that you get off to a good start. In the first month, reach out if you have any questions and we'll do our best to support you.
How do I know this course will help me?
This course may not be right for you. If you don't do the work, you are guaranteed that you won't become a thought leader. This course provides the formula and tools to be successful. Randall has been teaching this methodology to over 100 major organizations, spoken to tens of thousands of audience members, and has been profiled by over 450 major outlets. All these experiences qualify Randall to share what he knows and how he got there. Now it's your turn. We want to teach you how to be uniquely you rather than teach you to be a cookie cutter.
Curious? Questions? Interested in exploring the possibilities?
Curious? Questions? Interested in exploring the possibilities?