Stephen Shedletzky

True leaders know they are both part of the problem and part of the solution—and I’m here to help you lean into the latter.

I imagine a world where the standard of leadership is to make it safe and worthwhile for people to speak up. I believe that leadership is the key to this transformation. Through my work as the author of Speak-Up Culture, keynote speaker, and leadership coach, I guide leaders who are committed to putting people and purpose first.

I’m passionate about helping leaders make it safe and worth it for people to speak up. This work is personal. Early in my career, I felt stifled and uninspired—until I came across Simon Sinek's vision of a more inspired, safe and fulfilled world. I was fortunate to be the fourth person to join Simon’s team, where I co-hosted the Start With Why Podcast and held leadership roles focused on brand experience, training & development, and as Chief of Staff. Over a decade, I led hundreds of keynotes, workshops, and leadership development programs, empowering teams around the world.

Today, I work with leaders, teams, and organizations who want to foster cultures of open communication, psychological safety, and purposeful leadership. When leaders create environments where people feel heard and valued, it transforms not only the workplace—but lives.

I call Toronto home, where I live with my wife and two kids. I’m always eager to connect with fellow leaders driven by a common desire for more trusting and fulfilling work environments. Let’s connect and make an impact together — drop me a message anytime.

Founder, Speaker, Coach & Author

Helping leaders listen to and nurture the voices of others is my jam. I've seen teams grow together or fall apart based upon one factor: whether people feel safe, encouraged, and rewarded to speak up.
Everything I do—speaking, writing, coaching, listening, facilitating, advising—is to help leaders and their teams foster an environment where people feel heard and that they, their opinion, and their contributions matter.

I am VERY excited to announce the launch of something I’ve been working on for a long time… 

Welcome to Shed Some Light! 🎙️🎧💡

My brand new leadership development podcast (and companion newsletter) that cuts through the noise and actually helps you lead better… and better determine who to follow.  

I’m fascinated by what it means and looks like to be a leader worth following. And I’ve got a question for you: What would change if more people understood what it meant to be a leader and actually behaved into that definition? Woof.

That question sits at the heart of Shed Some Light, co-hosted with my friend and the awesome David Nebinski. It’s for leaders who want to show up better, build trust, and actually make a difference.

No fluff. No jargon. Just human-centered conversations, practical tools & insights, and stories that make you think, “Yeah… I’ve been there…” and, “Oh, that’s good! I’m using that.”

Every other week, starting next Tuesday, January 27th (!!), we tackle one question, topic, or challenge leaders face—and we dig deep. Sometimes we have help from our friends and brilliant leaders like Liane Davey and Rich Diviney. Oftentimes it’s David and me jamming, riffing, and making sense of it all.  

Take a read of our Season 1 preview and watch our video trailer in this newsletter article. I’m so pumped to share this audio & video podcast with you!

- Shed.

Author, “Speak-Up Culture” 🗣️🆙📘| Host, Shed Some Light Podcast💡| Empowering Leaders to Cultivate Psychologically Safe & Healthy Cultures | Leadership Speaker, Facilitator & Coach | Prev w/ Suncor, EY, Simon Sinek

A leadership development podcast (and newsletter) that cuts through the noise and actually helps you lead better. If we’ve yet to meet, I’m Stephen Sh

Open article: Welcome to Shed Some Light! 🎙️🎧💡 by Stephen Shedletzky • 3 min read

Welcome to Shed Some Light! 🎙️🎧💡

I am always happy to connect with new and aspiring keynote speakers. They inevitably ask me, 'How do I grow my speaking business?'

Well, here are my top 4️⃣  tips for growing a speaking business. These may be obvious, but they've been working for me, 15 years in! 😳 

1️⃣  The best way to get more good work is to do more good work. It can be frustrating (and also rewarding) that speaking is a long tail business. You may get referrals or repeat business from relationship and work done years ago... particularly if you're good to work with, on and off stage. 😉  

2️⃣  Speak more and speak strategically. I still do events (virtual, podcasts, local stuff or if I'm in the neighborhood) for free or a nominal fee or a book purchase or something. The best way to improve is to just keep doing it and relentlessly serving your audience to the best of your ability. Raise the bar. 

3️⃣  Your greatest speaking asset is video. You don't need a fancy speaker reel, though a good one can certainly help. Having a 45-90 second clip of you at your best is foundational. That's what a client, event planner, agent wants to have to trust you and hire you. 

4️⃣ You are the company that you keep. I've learned how to be a better speaker by following, studying and working with some of the best. Surround yourself with the people who inspire you and the people who have the talents, skills and habits you aspire to have. 

What are your top tips for building a speaking business? 🎤🗣️🆙

The only way to scale organizational culture is one leader and team at a time. 

As humans, we aren't designed for scale. Sorry, not sorry. 
The brilliant work and research from Robin Dunbar proves this. 

--> 4️⃣0️⃣% of our time is spent with 5️⃣ people. This is why the cliché of, 'you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with' is actually TRUE.

--> 6️⃣0️⃣% of our time is spent with 1️⃣5️⃣ people. 

--> Each of us can maintain, on average, 1️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ stable social relationships. In our origins as a species, we lived in caves and tribes of 150 people. If we grew beyond that size, we'd split into two tribes. Coincidence?! 🤔 I think not. 

So, what does this mean and why does it matter for us as leaders, team members, change agents and culture builders?

You cannot change organizational culture in one fell swoop. No one announcement or proclamation from a senior leader changes much. In fact, a proclamation without appropriate activation, adoption and embedding can do more damage than good. 

Leadership, teams and culture are a human-to-human experience. The goal is to align the actions of any L/leader with the experience of the people on each of your teams. 

Oh, we can change culture for the better. Don't get me wrong! The only way to meaningfully and sustainably do so is for the formal and informal leaders to understand it, accept it, appreciate it, and adopt it in what they say and do.

🎉 Kindle Book Giveaway‼️ ... ⌨️ ➡️ 🐙

As you may know, Matt Dunsmoor & Jean Larkin are dear friends. They just 🚀  launched their awesome new book 📗 "The Five Embodiments: A Guide to Human-Focused Leadership, Stronger Relationships, and a Workplace That Doesn't Suck." Uh... Sign. Me. Up. 

I had the honor of reviewing an early copy of the book and endorsing it <see image below>. It's truly great, engaging, needed and impactful. Matt & Jean have given me a free Kindle version of the book and I want to share it with you! 

Matt & Jean's company is called Octopy. So, if you'd like to be entered into this random draw, include any comment below with the 🐙 emoji. I'll draw and contact the winner this Sunday, January 18th.

Lead on, my peoples!

- Shed.

UNBOXING! 📦 ➡️ 📗 

It's FINALLY here. So pleased to get my hands on Matt Dunsmoor & Jean Larkin's book, "The Five Embodiments: A Guide to Human-Focused Leadership, Stronger Relationships, and a Workplace That Doesn't Suck."

Sign me the fuc& 🆙 

If you’ve ever whispered, ‘There’s gotta be a better way’ into your coffee ☕🤦🏻‍♂️  between meetings—this book offers it. The Five Embodiments is a guide and invitation to making leadership more relational, more intentional, and way more human. If you want to lead in a way that actually serves people and not just performance metrics, this one’s for you. It will help you show up with greater clarity, compassion, and the courage to act.

The book is out 🗓️ next Tuesday, January 13 so order your copy NOW!!!! https://lnkd.in/gdzFra92

The power a leader holds...

Leaders either feed peoples lives and careers or deplete them. 

We know from UKG that our relationship with our direct boss has more of an impact on our mental health than that of our relationship with our doctor or therapist and it's on par with our relationship with our spouse. 

The work of leadership matters, a ton.

How can you lead better today?
How can you more wisely choose who to follow?

#Leadership #MentalHealth #MentalWellBeing

taplio

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