PROGRAMS & EXPERIENCES
Every program is custom-designed for your organization’s specific needs, challenges, uncertainties, and objectives.
OUTSMARTING UNCERTAINTY
Signature Keynote
Uncertainty makes people feel anxious and insecure and holds them back from being their best. This empowering speech provides the framework and tools to replace stress and self-doubt with confidence, progress, and success! With Mark’s straightforward method, you will turn your goals into results and steady yourself for inevitable difficult times ahead.
Bottom line is people learn to turn uncertainty to their advantage!
DINING in the DARK
This compelling sensory awareness experience challenges participants, getting them out of their comfort zone and shifting their paradigm. This unique learning event, created by Mark Valenziano, is engaging, extremely fun, and will be remembered for years to come!
Generally, it’s a dinner event that includes a reception, challenging activities, engaging audience interaction, and an uplifting keynote. Participants spend a chunk of the evening wearing luxurious blindfolds. This experience gets them learning differently, problem-solving differently, and experiencing subtle but important traits of strong leaders, such as vulnerability, empathy, trust, listening, and so much more.
Approximate time: 3 ½ hours
Soft skills strengthened: Vulnerability, gratitude, optimism, empathy, trust, resiliency, visualization, listening
Message from Mark:
“I realize there are restaurants and event companies offering something named similar to Dining in the Dark. Please know my event is completely unique and different from their offerings. My Dining in the Dark experience is soulful and deeply moving. It’s thought-provoking, uplifting, educational, and refuels people’s sense of gratitude, optimism, and accountability.”
PUSHING BEYOND the EDGES
A two-part leadership development experience that pushes participants to their edge of comfort, thought, and performance. It’s a great blend of personal development, leadership development, and organizational objectives.
It starts in the late afternoon with a welcome reception and the Dining in the Dark experience described above.
This is followed the next morning with an interactive LEADERSHIP TEAM workshop customized to address the company’s specific challenges and objectives.
Approximate workshop length: 4 ½ hours
Soft skills strengthened: Communication, team alignment, trust, vulnerability, optimism, empathy, listening
“This wasn’t the typical leadership workshop! It felt very dynamic and tailored. The exercises weren’t generic; they felt designed specifically for our leadership team, which made them more meaningful. The dining in the dark, combined with the session the next day, really opened everyone’s eyes to how they can frame their own story and change outcomes through deep thought. The group left energized, not just with ideas but with a sense of momentum. The team was highly engaged. In several sessions, we saw people leaning in, asking tough questions, and being very transparent. There was a noticeable shift in trust. The group felt safe. I saw a lot of vulnerability, which is not always easy at this level. You are thoughtful, patient, and skilled at drawing out participation. You also adapt in real-time — when you sensed hesitation, you gently probed or rephrased to invite more voices, and weaving in your personal story was absolutely amazing!”
— Jim Walter, Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain and Manufacturing, Neogen Corporation
4-DAY TEAM RETREAT
This multi-dimensional immersive leadership development experience is carefully curated to reset mind & body for sustainable success. Amid global uncertainty and profound change, leadership teams find themselves in a challenging and critical time of reflection and reinvention. This amazing retreat challenges your team’s inner and outer leadership strength and is the ideal solution to help you successfully move through difficult times.
Often held in the majestic mountains at a bucolic Resort, we combine outdoor wilderness challenges, intensive workshops, and engaging discussions that test the outer edges of comfort, improve awareness, hone abilities to make critical decisions under pressure, broaden perspectives, shift paradigms, and strengthen mental toughness.
The intimate group size and idyllic setting provide the perfect atmosphere and opportunity for executive leaders who want intentional time to focus on the future, expanding their mind, overcoming challenges, refueling resiliency, and embracing their strengths as a leader.