AZ BRANDCAST Rod Lenniger Owner and Principal with RAL Advisory Services
Hear from a seasoned veteran, with a foot in both education and investment/management in the innovation and entrepreneurial space, speak about the realities and deep challenges of innovation, especially in established companies.
in this episode of AZ Brandcast, Rod Lenninger talks about intrepreneurship: the challenges inherent in creating space for innovation within an established organization. He discusses the potential for business and higher ed to work together and the realities of the challenge.
Since 2013, Rod Lenniger has owned and operated RAL Advisory Services. He is an Executive Advisor and Mentor for the C-Suite and often serves in “interim” executive positions to help companies maintain stability during times of change or to help lead accelerated growth initiatives as well as turnaround challenges.
Leveraging an expertise in business planning, he also functions as Lead Facilitator implementing a “Business Model Canvas” accelerator program for clients who want to design new or modify existing business models. Rod has conducted multiple BMC programs for companies ranging from startups to established businesses and continues to refine the usage to assist executive teams through the shared experience of clearly defining their business strategies and most importantly, identifying the tactics needed to actually implement them!
Rod brings more than 20 years of accomplishments in the information technology industry. He has held executive leadership positions in high tech companies ranging from early stage growth to global Fortune 500 companies. He has a successful track record in international business development, product marketing and professional services as well as mergers, acquisitions and IPOs. From 2004 to 2013, Rod was an Executive Team member for iCrossing, responsible for operations,corporate development, mergers and acquisitions and the global integration of new businesses. He firstjoined iCrossing in 2004 as VP Operations and served in various leadership roles participating in the rapid growth of several Search and technology functional units as well as the acquisition and integration of seven new businesses in North America, South America and Europe. During his tenure, iCrossing raised in excess of $100 million in venture funding and was 
successfully sold to the Hearst Corporation in 2010 for $325 million.
Appointed by the Governor, Lenniger has served on the Arizona Information and Technology Acquisition Council (ITAC) and the State’s eLearning Task Force. He also has been an advisor on the Arizona StateUniversity’s Computer Science Department, Senior Advisory Council. Chairman Emeritus of the Arizona Technology Council, he served as President and then Chairman for several years. He was appointed to the State’s Data Governance Council assisting the Department of Education and served as a Board member for both the Southwest Center for Chronic Disease, as well as Helping Hands For Freedom, serving families of deployed members of the military.
Awarded a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, Rod also achieved a Master’s Degree in Business from the Columbia University School of Business in New York City. His practical leadership skills were first honed as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army wherehe served for 3 years being honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant.
RAL Advisory Services provides personalized one-on-one coaching and mentoring for the CEO and/or Exec Team members. An executive coach can see what you cannot see; they are on the outside looking in. As your advisor they help you clearly see your options and the decisions you can make to advance your leadership, as well as the organization you lead. They bring years of corporate and entrepreneurial leadership knowledge and experience to provide fresh insight and expand your thinking, build your confidence and skills, and ensure you complete your goals. Value is not only in providing expert, third party analysis of your business, but the specific guidance on steps to improve it.
Connect with Rod on Twitter.
ABOUT AZ BRANDCAST
Branding isn’t just for companies. In fact, Arizona is its own brand. Every month, Mike Jones and Chris Stadler tap into Arizona’s rich community of thought leaders and business owners to find out how the state is developing that brand. Join them as they interview business and thought leaders from in and around Arizona about higher purpose in their companies and Arizona’s development as a brand. AZ Brandcast is powered by Conscious Capitalism AZ and Resound Creative.
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS
It’s Mike Jones‘ mission to see brands grow and succeed – to reach their full potential. He believes every brand, like every person, has DNA that’s remarkable, but not every brand knows how to act like it (and communicate it to the world). It’s not about what’s trendy, whatever consumers are demanding, or whatever will turn the fastest profit. It’s about the long game – building real relationships with your customers and your community.
Chris Stadler likes to see great plans executed. In a world looking for magic formulas, his stoic outlook tends to point people back to doing the basics really well. Accountability and measurement are his tools. In the past, Chris served as the staff copywriter for a large credit union, UX/human factors researcher at the University of Iowa and full-time teaching faculty, teaching design, copy and strategy at the University of Oregon.
