WHAT FOLKS ARE SAYING

We have been guiding an innovation learners group for senior business leaders for the last 10 years, and Stephen has been one of a few go-to professionals who have great breadth and depth of practical experience in innovation leadership who can also present information in ways that truly resonate with a diverse audience.  He is especially unique in how he balances his extensive academic understanding with the “real life” wisdom of someone who has been in the trenches.

Stephen has presented multiple times to our group of senior innovation leaders.  He is always well prepared with practical examples and meaningful exercises, connects well with the audience and leaves everyone with new applicable tools to accelerate innovation efforts.

Smart. Creative. Strategic. Innovative. Pragmatic. Knows his stuff - and what he doesn't know. Extremely deep content knowledge - a "go-to" person for my consulting firm over nearly two decades. Deep networks. Responsive. Won't give you all the answers - will listen, ask, observe, and will help you figure out how to leverage and build on great things in your company you didn't even know you had. Unqualified recommendation. 

Top qualities: Great Results, Expert , Creative  

Stephen is a walking, talking, real life innovator. He excels at asking thoughtful and penetrating questions; challenging himself and those around him to view and assess situations from a range of perspectives; and developing totally unique, powerful, and exciting visions for what is possible. Even better, he then develops the implementable path to achieve that vision. One of my all-time favorite minds. 

You have a skill to lead while being a participant - without ego, yet with a goal in mind. You managed the room, the presenters (even the guy who came with the attitude) with a smile and with forward thinking and forward motion. 

You seem to be at your best in starting up the momentum of new enterprises - the spirit of forging new ground appears to thrill you. . . The bigger the problem - the better the solution and the more creative you work 

 It is impossible to briefly describe how hard it is to bring together two non-profits, but Stephen’s organizational experience and wisdom helped to carry me forward as I faced many daily challenges. I’m not sure as the leader how I would have met all of our challenges without his support, advice, and consistent common sense approach. Stephen’s style is direct yet compassionate. He’s always able to cut through to the heart of an issue and truthfully lay out the real options. My experience with him was primarily in Organizational Development (including Board Development) and in his capacity as an Executive Coach. In all of these areas he has my highest recommendation. 

Stephen is one of the most engaging and effective speakers I have ever worked with. He always educates his audience on the core concepts in a completely accessible and engaging way. He then provides practical tools people can use to apply the theory he just explained. Finally, he leads everyone through activities that let the students put the tools to use so they can learn by doing. He exceeds my expectations, and those of my students. Every. Single. Time..

Stephen has an exceptional capability to simplify complex challenges and develop innovative solutions to meet ever changing business needs. This ability in combination with his professional presence and the ease at which he develops meaningful peer-to-peer relationships makes him an asset to any organization.

Stephen is a pleasure and an inspiration to work with -- he leverages an ability to assess organizational goals and surrounding market contexts into strategic roadmaps that are not only creative but uniquely pragmatic. Stephen's gifts for identifying untapped revenue streams, paving new market frontiers and mapping implementation into do-able increments combine to inspire teams to excellence and accelerated market growth.

Stephen is an exceptional blend of visionary, futurist, and business pragmatist. One particular experience, in which I was involved, trying to rejuvenate an iconic cultural organization, proved how canny Stephen is in expanding a business model while adhering to an institution's core values. Innovative and creative plans with a clear road map to follow. I always enjoy our conversations, hearing about his projects, and engaging in the enthusiastic, and factually founded give and take on any variety of issues that leads to the expansion of our ideas, knowledge, and ways of connecting many dots. He is a pleasure to work with for his knowledge, insight, tact, and overall personal communications skills. I welcome the opportunity to expand on this, if helpful. 

Dr. Brand is one of the most valuable professors here at Isenberg. Unlike many of the professors here who purely only know the material they're teaching, and have little to no real world experience applying their teachings, Professor Brand is one of the most knowledgable professors here with REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE. He brings in real CEO's as guests.