Association & MLS services
Board training and consulting
Two ways to work with us. Train your leaders, or bring us in to solve a specific problem. Same faculty of proven executives and educators, scaled to your board and your budget.
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Leadership training
Board and staff education. The Leadership Puzzle, professional standards, ED director support, leadership academies and conference keynotes.
See training programs02
Consulting
Strategic and business planning, governance evaluation, mergers and consolidations, operations, communications and global alliances.
See consulting servicesLeadership training
Education for the people who run the organization. Board members, committee chairs, executive officers and staff. Delivered virtually or on site, as a single session, a two-part series or a full academy.
Core curriculum
The Leadership Puzzle
Our flagship board training, built in two parts. Run them together for a full-day intensive, or split them across two sessions so new directors get governance first and process second.
Part one
Legal responsibilities
- Board of Directors roles and responsibilities
- How to partner with staff
- Fiduciary duties
- Agreements to serve
- Managing conflicts of interest
- Harassment and conduct standards
- The importance of governing documents
Part two
Meeting management
- Open versus closed meetings
- Leading productive meetings
- Understanding agendas
- Managing action items
- Sterile minutes
- Protocols for virtual meetings
Leadership Puzzle instructors
Special pricing for smaller local associations
The Leadership Puzzle is available in a specific virtual format delivered by select members of our team. Tell us your board size and your budget, we will scope it from there.
Ongoing programs
Training tracks and academies
Longer-form education for associations building a leadership pipeline rather than filling a single meeting slot.
Leadership academy programs
Custom leadership tracks for associations. Curriculum design, cohort facilitation and emerging leader pipelines that keep producing candidates year after year.
Professional standards and mediation training
Hearing panel training, ombudsman and mediation programs, Code of Ethics enforcement procedure and grievance committee work.
Professional development and ED director support
Course design, NAR Core Standards compliance, instructor management, education budgeting and member engagement you can actually measure.
Single sessions
Specialty programs and keynotes
Book any of these as a standalone session, a half day, or a conference keynote.
Consulting
Work done with you, not at you. Our consultants have sat in your chair as association executives, board presidents and committee chairs, so the recommendations land in the real world of your budget and your bylaws.
Flagship engagement
Strategic, scenario and business planning
A high performing MLS or association needs a fluid, responsive plan so the budget lines up with the work that matters. Our team facilitates plans for state and local associations and MLSs of all sizes.
We provide a structure that carries mission, vision, core values, strategic pillars and strategic objectives, built to hold up for years. We also facilitate business planning for each area so your legacy programs are integrated and your team can brainstorm new programs, products and services.
Scope a planning retreatFormats
- Full day on site retreat
- Multi-day retreat with departmental business planning
- Streamlined virtual plan that satisfies NAR Core Standards
- Scenario planning for boards facing a market or structural shift
Scaled pricing
Planning for smaller boards on a budget
We have a dedicated team of facilitators who work with you and your budget to build a plan that provides real structure and satisfies NAR Core Standards. Pricing is scaled to fit small board budgets.
Schedule your eventPractice areas
Specialized association management consulting
Six focused practice areas, each matched to the consultants who have actually done the work. You get a specialist, not a generalist with a slide deck.
Leadership, coaching, policy and governance evaluation
Executive and staff team coaching, policy review, governance structure evaluation and board self-assessment.
Mergers, acquisitions, consolidations and mediations
Feasibility studies, cultural assessments, negotiation support, governance alignment and post-merger integration.
Operations and financials
Budgets, facilities, property and operations assessments, financial investment strategies and strategic investments.
Communications solutions
Spokesperson training, communication toolkits, member and consumer communications strategies, dealing with difficult people.
DEI and IDEAS
Culture assessment, inclusive governance practice and member-facing programming that holds up under scrutiny.
Global alliances
International partnership development, global business councils and cross-border referral network strategy.
The bench
Meet the faculty
Most of our team works across both segments, teaching in the classroom one week and facilitating in the boardroom the next. The label under each name tells you where you will find them.
Tell us what your board is wrestling with
Complete the booking request form and we will come back with the people, the format and the pricing that fit. Training, consulting, or both.