Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE, has long been a trend setter in the business community. He is author of The Eight Competencies of Relationship Selling: How to Reach The Top 1% in Just 15 Extra Minutes A Day, built upon 17 years of success with his bestseller Relationship Selling and 30 years of working with over 2,500 of the top companies in the world.His breakthrough work, The Acorn Principle is the result of a two-decade long study of applied behavioral science and achieved bestseller status online as well as through traditional channels.

Mr. Cathcart's weekly e-Letter delivers concise, inspiring weekly emails, offering very specific self-development tips and exercises, with crisp calls to action.

He is president of Cathcart Institute, Inc., a research and consulting firm in Lake Sherwood, California, and is one of the nation's leading professional speakers. Among keynote speakers Jim Cathcart is a world leader and past-president of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and winner of numerous awards including the 2001 Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International.

Mr. Cathcart's presentations consistently receive rave reviews and are customized for your audience.

Jim Shute began his career in the corporate communications field, producing corporate presentations, meetings, and videos for the automotive, financial services, and pharmaceutical industries.  A three-year stint with an advertising agency (including retail automotive) helped to round out Jim’s understanding of markets, brands, and their related distribution channels.

Jim became involved in the Training and Development arena in 1990, working for Philadelphia- and Princeton-based consulting firms before becoming one of the founders of XL Group, Inc., a corporate training, systems support, and incentive/recognition provider.  As a principal with XL Group, Jim performed roles ranging from Account Management and Project Management to Instructional Design, Program Development and Facilitation. He developed or managed development of instructional programs in a wide variety of media including seminars/workshops, self-study programs, interactive multimedia, CBT, online learning, and special events (e.g., sales meetings, training/recognition events)—in addition to systems development projects such as Learning Management and Performance Management Systems.

In 1998, Jim formed Pro-Active Learning to realize the full value of his core competencies and interests in implementing solutions that deliver not just information but improved capability to people.  He has extensive skills and experience in the areas of analysis, design, and development of content/information, and delivery of the resulting knowledge and skills to people within organizations.  Pro-Active Learning is dedicated to improving the productivity, efficiency, and capability of people and organizations, by delivering knowledge, skills, and performance capability to the right people, at the right time, in the right way.

Pro-Active Learning’s clients include Audi of America, BMW of North America, Jaguar Land Rover North America, Maserati North America, Mazda North American Operations, Porsche Cars North America, Volvo Cars of North America, and Correct Craft, Inc.