Craig Choffe

I am passionate about helping people understand and embrace the human side of business so they can fulfill their potential as the leaders they were meant to be.

I am a professional facilitator, speaker, and coach with over 20 years of experience teaching leaders about the “human” side of business. I’ve delivered hundreds of workshops, seminars, and keynotes for leading global professional services organizations, and a variety of insurance and investment companies. Favourite topics include business development, influence, leadership, communication, and Emotional Intelligence.

I’m known for using stories and humour to engage my audience. (And by the way, the correct spelling is “humour,” not “humor,” because I’m a proud Canadian!)

I have also taken a turn at designing and facilitating executive offsite strategy sessions, multi-day conferences, and company retreats. And I am a trained professional coach having completed 104 hours of CTI’s Coach Training Program.

When I’m not working, you can find me watching movies and reading with my family in my home town of Aurora, Ontario (just north of Toronto).

My Get Real Services

I specialize in leading our immersion workshops and mastery workshops, including two of our signature offerings: Being a Trusted Advisor and Trust-Based Selling (sometimes known as Trust-Based Business Development).  I also coach participants after workshops on specific ways to apply what they’ve learned in everyday situations.

My Trust Temperament™

The Expert

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What Clients are Saying

“Craig creates an engaging and comfortable learning environment. His style and sense of humour keeps participants on their toes and helps make the content stick.”

Program Sponsor, global accounting firm

“Thanks once again for an outstanding workshop for the team. The content was concise, relevant, and impactful. And your delivery was first class all the way … engaging, inclusive, challenging, and empathetic. I heard nothing but good feedback from the team and I am certain that everyone benefited”

Ken Sheppard, Senior Director of Strategic Business Improvement, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

Who I’m Reading/Following

My Get Real Story

Many years ago, I was working in Learning and Development (L&D) for a big bank in Canada. I was project manager for a new Learning Management System (LMS) being installed across the bank.

 Well, like many technology projects, it wasn’t going well. We suffered major delays and setbacks. Things had reached a boiling point and there was a big meeting scheduled between us and the vendor, a relatively small outfit.

 I spent hours preparing my case—ready to defend the bank’s (and my) actions while clearly shining the light of guilt in the vendor’s eyes. We were their biggest client and we were sabre-rattling as only big clients can. Plus it was a perfect opportunity to showcase my years of well-honed debating skills from high school and university.

 My plan: no collaboration, all accusation. No defense, all offense. No accountability, only finger-pointing and blame. It was a zero-sum game and I was ready.

 We took sides and sat down at the big boardroom table. Ring the bell and the fight would begin. Only before I could launch my opening salvo, the vendor’s President, Jim, spoke first. He leaned in, looked us in the eye, and in an honest, sincere, vulnerable voice said …

“I am so sorry we are in this situation. You are our biggest client. If we lose you, we’re out of business.”

 You could hear a pin drop in the room. (Picture the first Mission Impossible movie when Tom Cruise is hanging from the ceiling.)

 I was completely disarmed. I had been ready for point/counter-point. This was open, honest, transparent, human—an approach I didn’t even know existed. And what followed was a remarkably collaborative, “let’s solve this together” kind of conversation.

 Thanks to Jim, I discovered a whole new way to approach work and “conflicts” that day. Years later, I realize Jim taught me the critical lessons that I now aim to teach others: the power of intimacy, risk-taking, and transparency.

 Here’s to humble pie, lessons learned, and extraordinary role models.

Getting a Little More Personal

Words people often use to describe me

Energetic, funny, passionate. (Bald. Canadian.)

What inspires me

People who strive to be better each day. My son. Movies.

What brings me joy

Kath (my high school sweetheart, wife, and best friend) and Mason (my son—see above). Movie nights. Great food and nice wine!

What anchors me

A nice cup of tea, music and great books.

What drives me nuts

People talking way to loudly on a plane. Lack of self-awareness.

My guilty pleasure

Chocolate. Binge-watching shows with Kath. Watching my favourite movies over and over, like Inception, The Martian, and anything Star Wars or Marvel-related (with Mason).

A favourite quote

“It is never too late to be what you might have been”—George Eliot

What I can’t do without

Kath and Mason (notice a theme?), music, tea, my glasses, extra golf balls.

My secret ambition

To write a book that inspires others.