Mitchell

Jack Farnan
SVP, Human Resources
Mitchell International, Inc.
San Diego, California

“After interviewing several consulting firms to assist us with developing a strategy for aligning objectives across the corporation, we selected Michael Brainard at Brainard Strategy. Michael worked diligently with our executive team and helped us to develop a process that has been operational now for three years and becomes more ingrained with each passing year. The results that Michael achieved with us exceeded our expectations allowing us to implement an objectives-driven culture within the company. Michael does an outstanding job of bringing the right blend of current business thinking and operational practices to the table which contributes to his success and ultimately the success of his clients”.

Biosite

K. Blickenstaff
Chairman and CEO
Biosite Diagnostics, Inc., San Diego, California

“We realized that we just weren’t reaching the goals our team set out to attain… We were struggling to improve our sales and marketing management team’s skills and sales ability. Brainard Strategy recommended a series of assessments and interviews for our key talent. Once through the assessment he advised our executive team on ways to “map” our talent relative to our needs. We began to revise our hiring process as a means to find similar types of “smart” people whom we were always able to attract, but now we were better able to assess for “fit” with real data. We also were able to rightly move some key people into key roles and each and every person in our marketing and sales organization were given developmental feedback by our managers in a way that enabled open and “real” conversations about contribution and value. We then took our team through sales training and personal development planning activities based on the collective assessment information. Because of Brainard Strategy, our team is back on track.”

Standard Pacific Homes

Heather Breidenthal
Vice President
Human Resources

“We engaged Brainard Strategy to help us develop the foundation of a leadership development program for our senior leaders and potential successors. Michael and his team helped us flush out the key competencies for our current and future leaders and built a comprehensive leadership model. Our leaders participated in a 360 feedback process and received one on one consultation and coaching to analyze strengths and areas for improvement. The initial stage of the program culminated in a two day off-site retreat where Michael spoke to the group at large and challenged them to step outside of their comfort zones and actively embrace their leadership role.

Michael and his team did a tremendous job in taking all of our available materials on leadership and our current challenges in the business to develop a superb leadership model. They mapped out the process leading up to the retreat with manageable timelines and provided an array of assessments and other resources to energize participants. Most impressively, Michael’s delivery at the retreat was both inspiring and motivating. He possesses the unique ability to resonate with all levels of management including our executive team, and his vast knowledge of leadership development is complemented perfectly with his customized approach to the client’s specific business challenges. Michael has earned our highest recommendations.”

Patient Safe Solutions

Jim Sweeney
Chairman and CEO
Patient Safe Solutions

“Our Board of Directors was seeking an assessment of the organization relative to performance challenges, retention challenges and a sense that our culture may have been evolving in a way that was a potential concern.  I was referred to Brainard Strategy by a trusted adviser.  I had very little knowledge about Brainard Strategy’s capabilities but I knew that as a rapidly growing company conducting this type of assessment we would need a credible, experienced and trusted adviser.

Michael and I met, and at that time I was not exactly sure about the right path forward and how to implement the assessment process.  I knew that we needed an outside and expert view that could enable us to better understand challenges in and among potentially sensitive area; and then help us to develop a path forward that would be acceptable for the company, board, and executive team.  After our first planning meeting it became clear that Michael blended a practical approach and a strong theoretical foundation.  Michael Brainard’s team designed and personally interviewed 25% of our company, conducted focus groups and reviewed dozens of documents.  Michael Brainard brought us the results but more than that, a very deep understanding of what the results meant, and guided us toward a very pragmatic and effective action plan.  Our Board members were very impressed with the process and outcomes.  We are now partnering with the Brainard Strategy team to implement a series of organizational changes and we are delighted with the positive change that has already started.

Brainard Strategy’s blend of assessment skills, organizational development knowledge, and senior executive presence helped me to get our teams focused on key activities. Michael and the team at Brainard Strategy are experts in what they do and how they do it, they are practical, and a trusted partner for Patient Safe Solutions.”

Volcano

Scott Huennekens
CEO – Volcano

“We annually perform an employee survey to understand our culture and achievement of our V-difference objectives. Additionally, this year we wanted to take a deeper dive in the understanding of the organization relative to perceptions regarding diversity. Based on a long standing and trusting relationship I had with Marissa Waldman I included Brainard Strategy into the process by which we choose a partner. I had very little knowledge about Brainard Strategy’s capabilities but I knew that as a public company conducting this type of assessment we would need a credible, experienced and trusted adviser.

Michael, Marissa, and I met, and at that time I was not exactly sure about the right path forward and how to implement the assessment process. I knew that we needed an outside and expert view that could enable us to better understand challenges in and among potentially sensitive area; and then help us to develop a path forward that would be acceptable for the employees, management team, and our board. After our first planning meeting it became quite clear that the team at Brainard Strategy had deep experience, a strong theoretical foundation, and a practical approach that I was eager to support. The Brainard Strategy team partnered with me, my HR team, and two board members to guide us through a global survey that was incredibly painless, fast, and cost efficient. Michael Brainard and Jennifer Konkin brought us the results but more than that a very deep understanding of interpreting the results and guided us toward a pragmatic and effective action plan. Our employees, management team and Board members were impressed with the process and outcomes. We will be leveraging the Brainard team for other types of assessments as they are clearly a unique choice among their peer group.

Michael’s blend of assessment skills, organizational development knowledge, and senior executive presence helped me to get our teams focused on key activities.   The flexible options and Brainard’s customization of the tools used for organizational assessment enabled us to navigate what could have been very choppy waters and we are better for it at the board level, executive team level and organizational level.”

J.D. Power and Associates

Alex Arrieta, Vice President, Global Human Resources
The McGraw-Hill Companies, J.D. Power and Associates

“We recently completed two different projects with Brainard Strategy over a 3-year period. The first was offsite with Michael developing our team strategies. Because of the excellent results with Brainard Strategy, we turned to the team again for our next project. In January of this year, we began to design our next major initiative, which was a Global Change Management process. Michael and his team helped us to design the business model, strategy, and communications that would ultimately lead to the launch of a company-wide pulse survey. Through the process, the Brainard Strategy team coordinated with our internal team to manage the process and review the results with our senior leadership. When JD Power, the world’s biggest survey organization, needs to do internal surveys, we turn to Brainard Strategy.

I’ve used other consulting firms in the past but for change management I consider Brainard Strategy a real partner. The team has a stronger focus of what we need and I consider Michael and Marissa an extension of our internal team. Brainard Strategy really takes the time to assess what the real challenges are instead of imposing a solution they think fits. That’s something you don’t get from many consulting firms. From their initial assessment, they balance strategy and action oriented goals to develop solutions, making real change possible.”

J.D. Power and Associates
Vice President, Human Resources

“While I had not partnered with Brainard Strategy in the past, I had always heard great things about their work. I contacted Marissa Waldman and she offered some great suggestions about how to position and approach our first executive off site session in many years. We agreed to meet with Michael so that we could thoughtfully design the right approach for assessment and rapport building, and the actual agenda and objectives. It was clear that Michael had a wealth of experience in this high level team development work and I had a great deal of confidence when putting him in front of my peers, the executive team.

Michael designed a custom interview that we reviewed in advance of him conducting the interviews with each executive. The information he was able to glean from each executive was rich and unbelievably candid. Also from the interviews each executive had a chance to get to know him and generated optimism for the pending session. Michael prepared a report from the interview data and he, I, and our CEO discussed the findings in detail and we collaborated on the agenda and outcomes for the actual session.

Michael’s approach in the session forced us to deal with the core issues, even when uncomfortable. We had an inclusive dialogue that led to action items that were measure-able. The team development process changed many of the key leaders approach to teaming and leadership. Michael has a unique ability to build credibility, facilitate executive sessions, and blend theory and street smarts. I appreciate Michael and his firm and they are a trusted partner for us, I would refer him without reservation.”

Moark

Allan Dicks
CFO, Moark, Inc.

Brainard Strategy partnered with our executive team to clarify and refine our Mission, Vision and Strategic Objectives. The process was very practical yet clearly grounded in the best ideas from some of the traditional strategic planning processes. Once the strategic objectives were clarified Michael pushed us to set very SMART goals and define our goals via tactics and metrics. Michael then brought us an easy to apply Performance Scorecard. Our team defined this scorecard together and while we have fallen short relative to execution in the past we have already experienced a different set of behaviors as we now report out to one another our performance relative to the scorecard monthly. Brainard Strategy’s consulting support around Strategy Development / Alignment has enabled us to refine and clarify our thinking, and most importantly is directly driving greater levels of execution and accountability than we have had as an executive team. Brainard’s approach has enabled us to surface and address key strategic questions, plan for and align around key scenarios (develop strategic choices), helped us to re-define our core competencies, greatly improved goal alignment and accountability, and increased our urgency and competitive spirit