“Think of your team like the sun and you, the facilitator, as the magnifying glass.”

In this ADAW episode, Tim Leake, TEDx speaker, creative strategist, and world-class facilitator shares his step-by-step approach to designing high-ROI workshops for executive teams.

We dive into:

✅ The MVC (Most Valuable Challenge) and why it must come first

✅ How to handle executive skepticism and define value in dollars

✅ The dangers of overthinking vs. underthinking

✅ Why alignment beats action plans (and how to make real follow-through happen)

✅ How to sell facilitation more effectively by proving its business valueWhether you’re new to facilitation or have been doing it for years, this episode is full of helpful tips, stories, and clear ways to make your workshops better.

📌 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

00:00 - Meet Tim Leake: From Ad Exec to Facilitator

04:57 - Facilitating Leadership Teams: The Real Challenge

06:42 - Why Most Workshops Fail to Deliver Real Impact

09:06 - MVC: The Most Valuable Challenge Explained

13:56 - Estimating ROI with Executive Teams

16:18 - Why Leaders Must Define the MVC Themselves

24:32 - Optimal Thinking: Avoid Overthinking and Underthinking

32:47 - Storytime: The 12-Issue Executive Offsite That Failed

38:15 - Using Lenses and Filters to Prioritize Ideas

42:56 - Creativity, Exercise, and Capturing Aha Moments

46:12 - Facilitation = Stand-Up + Improv

48:20 - 3 Keys to High-ROI Workshops Recap

49:52 - Action Plan vs. Alignment Plan

54:45 - Building Real Follow-Through Into the Workshop

59:10 - Marketing the MVC Internally and Externally

01:01:04 - Why 5 Days? And How to Use the Time

01:05:10 - Executing During the Workshop: Real Outputs

01:07:02 - Pricing and the ROI Argument for Facilitators

01:09:27 - Saying No to the Wrong Clients

01:12:31 - Complex Challenges Need Creative Simplicity

01:23:06 - Wrap-Up: Why Facilitation is a Creative Superpower

01:24:41 - Where to Find Tim Leake & Outro

🛠️ 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 & 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀

• Tim’s Website: https://letslightbulb.com

• High ROI Workshops: https://highroiworkshops.com

• Follow Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timleake/

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