Case study · Grant Thornton · Chicago
Grant Thornton: Winning the War for Attention
How Grant Thornton's Chicago office gave its future leaders a lunchtime keynote on focus, stress, and performing at their best.
Case study · Grant Thornton · Chicago
How Grant Thornton's Chicago office gave its future leaders a lunchtime keynote on focus, stress, and performing at their best.
The client
Grant Thornton is a global accounting, tax, and advisory firm. Its Chicago office is home to the Chicagoland Future Leaders & Allies group, a business resource group for professionals early in their careers.
Jeff Eichinger, a partner in the office and an executive sponsor of the group, wanted a speaker who could give his people something they would actually use.
The challenge
The group is full of sharp, driven people. Like every office, they deal with constant email, back-to-back meetings, and phones that never stop.
The firm wanted a lunchtime keynote that would help them regain focus, reduce stress, and perform at their best. It also had to be fully work appropriate, with nobody singled out or made uncomfortable.
What they were looking for
Tools people could use the next workday, not just a feel-good hour.
Help early-career professionals take ownership of their focus, their time, and their careers.
The whole room takes part together. No volunteers pulled on stage, nothing embarrassing.
What we did
Eric worked with Jeff and the firm's HR team ahead of time. He built the talk so every activity was done by the group as a whole, from their seats.
Winning the War for Attention showed how suggestion, focus, and repetition shape what we notice every day. Then it gave the room simple tools to point their attention where it matters.
Clear answers on content, participation, and language before the contract was signed.
A scrambled cube, solved in a blink. A lesson in how the way we see a problem shapes the problem.
A short guided meditation to calm the mind, with practical focus tools for the next meeting or deadline.
The finale
The talk closed with one simple loop the room could take back to their desks. See the result first. Write down what matters. Build the daily habits that get you there.
Afterward, Jeff left a review: “He provided real actionable insights to calm your mind, and create focus.”
The takeaway
Grant Thornton wanted more than a lunch speaker. They wanted their future leaders to leave with a clear way to manage distraction and stress, and to feel the ideas, not just hear them.
If your team is fighting for focus, this is the kind of keynote Eric builds: interactive, work appropriate, and fitted to your room.
From the planner's side
People just ate. A talk that only asks them to sit and listen loses the room by minute ten.
If nobody can say what they learned on the way out, the hour did not stick. Give them one simple tool.
Not everyone wants to be pulled up front. Activities the whole group does together keep everyone comfortable.
Sort out language, content, and participation before the contract. It makes the day smooth for everyone.
A pep talk fades by Monday. Practical focus tools are what people use.
Straight answers
Most run 45 to 60 minutes. Eric fits the length to your agenda, from a lunch session to a conference opener.
Yes. Grant Thornton's HR team reviewed the content in advance. Everything is work appropriate and the whole group takes part together.
Only if you want that. For this keynote every activity was done by the whole room, from their seats.
Yes. Eric adjusts the examples and takeaways for your audience, from early-career teams to leadership.
It depends on the format, length, and travel. Eric sends a clear quote after a short call.
Planning something similar?
Tell Eric about your group. He answers every inquiry personally.