The Brooks Group, an award-winning sales training company, has recently hired Jim Packard as the new Vice President of Product Innovation, who will ensure the company has tools and trainings that match todays learning styles.
As a former learning architect and implementation strategist with Franklin Covey, Jim is an expert at creating engaging and effective learning experiences in live, live online, and self-paced formats. His goal is to help salespeople move past any aversion to learning created by educational experiences in their past, and make learning accessible and approachable to people in a way that helps them learn and use the information they are being taught.
Jim’s belief is that “You can’t innovate effectively if you don’t understand what people are trying to get done. I don’t believe in learning for the sake of learning, but in removing barriers to find practical application; in meeting people where they are so they can apply what they learn and overcome the struggles they deal with.”
The pandemic has left a permanent mark on the learning industry. Sales managers are beginning to realize that while training can be brilliant from an instructional design perspective, it must be presented in a way that learners “opt-in” for and are willing to do.
“As we continue to innovate our product set, we are certain that Jim’s significant experience in adult learning and product design will lead to products that bring significant benefits to our clients.” remarked Gary Fly, CEO of The Brooks Group.
Jim lives in Utah, where he spends his free time hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing, kayaking, and rock climbing—all with his wife, four sons, and sometimes the family dog, Millie.
The Brooks Group teaches straightforward, actionable sales training skills to sales managers and their teams. Their IMPACT Selling® Sales Training Program has been taught to over one million sales professionals nation-wide, and they’ve been recognized as one of the top sales training companies annually since 2010.
Jim Packard is the Vice President of Product Innovation, where he is responsible for ensuring a best in class product suite. His work impacts anything from product offerings, instructional design, modalities, and marketing collateral.
Jim’s background is in the classroom and helping people learn. His success in helping students learn using online platforms launched into a ten-year career at Franklin Covey, where he created innovative webinar rooms using Adobe Connect, Zoom, and Web Ex. He also leveraged his deep subject-matter expertise to help clients identify their leadership and organizational development needs, and strategize solutions to achieve desired results.
He received his M.A. in English from Weber State University in 2009, and his Masters of Science, Leadership and Management from Western Governors University in 2021.
Jim’s pragmatic approach to learning drives him to remove barriers that prevent learners from finding practical applications for the techniques they learn. He has spoken to many organizations and individual learners to uncover which learning modalities people like, and has found that the most effective training is one that people opt-in to and are willing to implement.
You can find Jim spending his free time in the mountains around his home in Utah, where he enjoys spending his time hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing, kayaking, and rock climbing with his wife Tamara, four sons, Isaac, Jude, William, and Zeke, and sometimes the family dog, Millie.
