Organizational Culture, Employee Engagement and Leadership Expert
#1 Bestselling Business Author
One of today’s most influential voices in workplace trends, Chester Elton has spent two decades helping clients engage their employees to execute on strategy, vision, and values. In his provocative, inspiring and always entertaining talks, #1 bestselling leadership author Chester Elton provides real solutions to leaders looking to manage change, drive innovation, and lead a multi-generational workforce.Elton’s work is supported by research with more than 850,000 working adults, revealing the proven secrets behind high-performance cultures and teams.
He has been called the “apostle of appreciation” by Canada’s Globe and Mail, “creative and refreshing'” by the New York Times, and a “must read for modern managers” by CNN. Elton is co-author of the multiple award-winning #1 New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling leadership books, All In, The Carrot Principle, and The Best Team Wins. His books have been translated in more than 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Elton is often quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fast Company and the New York Times. He has appeared on NBC’s Today, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, National Public Radio and CBS’s 60 Minutes. In 2018 Global Gurus research organization ranked him as #13 in the world’s top leadership experts and #5 in the world’s top organizational culture experts; and he is a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches pay it forward project.
Elton is the co-founder of The Culture Works, a global training company and a board member of Camp Corral, a non-profit for the children of wounded and fallen military heroes. He serves as a leadership consultant to firms such as American Express, AT&T, Avis Budget Group and Procter & Gamble. He is most proud, however, to be the father of four exceptional children-more exceptional now they’ve grown up and left home.
Videos and Materials
This Speaker's Keynotes
All In: How the best leaders develop a culture of belief & drive big results
All In : How the best leaders develop a culture of belief & drive big results
The Dilemma:
While most leaders understand their most reliable competitive advantage comes from their people, few know how to get their teams “all in”-convincing employees to buy into the strategy they’ve put forward. If a culture is clear, positive, and strong, then people will believe what they do matters and that they can make a difference. If a culture is dysfunctional-chaotic, combative or indifferent-employees will spend more time thinking about why the people sitting next to them should be fired than getting fired up themselves.
The Research:
Teaming up with research giant Towers Watson, #1 bestselling author Chester Elton presents the findings of an unprecedented 300,000-person study conducted in the worst of the recession for his book All In. Based on this breakthrough research and his extensive consulting experience with a who’s-who of successful organizations, he presents a simple roadmap that all managers can follow to create a high-achieving culture in their own teams where employees are engaged, enabled and energized.
The Result:
Elton offers specific how-tos for each step, and tells fascinating stories of leaders in action that vividly depict just how these powerful methods can be implemented. Audiences will learn: the 3 research-based characteristics of the world’s most profitable, productive organizational and team cultures; the 7 steps today’s most successful leaders use to generate buy-in; and how managers at any level can build a productive workgroup culture of their own where employees commit to the culture and give an extra push of effort.
The Audience:
Designed for senior leaders and managers (although sometimes tailored to include all employees
“Chester – You were the “WOW” at our conference. Your “All In” principles aligned to every aspect of our key messaging and reinforced the effectiveness of this approach. We can’t wait to continue this momentum and enthusiasm.”
– Lynn Leblanc, Head of Strategic Planning, Aetna
Carrots 2.0. How today’s managers use recognition to engage their people, retain talent, and …
Topic #3: The latest thinking in rewards & recognition
Title: Carrots 2.0:
How today’s managers use recognition to engage their people, retain talent, and accelerate performance
The Dilemma:
Most managers want to create cultures where their teams achieve above-and-beyond results, but for a culture to really take off teammates must encourage each other on a daily basis. The answer is in rooting for each other: having each other’s backs, appreciating strengths, and recognizing strategic behaviors.
The Research:
Based his #1 bestselling book The Carrot Principle, which unveiled a 10-year, 200,000- person survey, Elton has become the preeminent authority on employee recognition. Now, he introduces us to Carrots 2.0-showing incontrovertible evidence that today’s employees respond best when they are recognized for things they are good at and for those actions where they had to stretch.
The Result:
Elton introduces audiences to new generational and industry-specific data from his 2016 proprietary survey of 14,000 working adults-helping managers link recognition to what is most meaningful to their employees. He introduces practical concepts that help managers encourage excellence, including ideas such as appreciation vs. recognition, effort vs. achievement, and praise vs. rewards.
The Audience:
Designed for managers, Chester Elton has presented “Carrots 2.0” to corporate audiences and associations worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific recognition needs and can also include the organization’s available R&R tools.
“Chester received a standing ovation! I’d say that it was a grand-slam home-run to spearhead a cultural change initiative throughout our region. The concepts of “All In,” “The Carrot Principle,” and “What Motivates Me” can be combined to create a tool-box that all organizations can leverage to enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
– Glen Stambone, Northern Regional Medical Command, US Army
The Engagement Effect: How the best managers are engaging employees …
Title: The Engagement Effect: How the best managers are engaging employees to meet the needs of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world
The Dilemma:
Financial performance in high-engagement organizations is 44 percent higher than in low engagement organizations. Some 90 percent of senior leaders believe employee engagement is a key driver of business performance. But only 24 percent think their employees are engaged enough to move their businesses forward.
The Research:
New York Times bestselling author and leadership expert Chester Elton presents findings from 20 years of research, with a total of 850,000-people now surveyed, to illustrate the steps today’s most successful organizations use to generate superior levels of employee engagement to drive energy, focus and innovation. His work shows exactly which leadership behaviors move engagement and which don’t.
The Result:
In this practical and thought-provoking keynote, Elton introduces a practical guide for leaders, showing them exactly how to move the needle on employee engagement. The author drills deep with case studies of real managers in action and practical examples of proven drivers of engagement such as:
- alignment with future vision
- enhanced trust and innovation
- transparent communication
- career development
- strategic recognition of contributions
The Audience:
Designed for senior leaders and managers, Chester Elton has presented “The Engagement Effect” to corporate audiences and associations worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific engagement challenges.
“Chester was a huge hit and personally inspired me to be a better leader! Not only did he bring relevant, factual data into his presentation about driving business results through engaging the workforce, he used humor and audience participation to keep the team motivated and invested!”
-MaryLynn Carver, Chief Communications Officer, General Mills
The Best TEAM Wins: The 5 Disciplines of Today’s Most Effective Team Leaders
The Dilemma:
The vast majority of employees’ days are now spent working collaboratively, but still 96 percent of executives cite poor teamwork as the main source of workplace failures in their organizations. It might be the most-pressing question organizations must address: How can managers lead their teams to improved performance given the volatility and challenges we face today. The Research. Based on an 850,000-person study of the most profitable, innovative work teams, New York Times bestselling author Chester Elton introduces his audiences to the new science of teamwork-helping leaders deal with the increased speed of change in business, global and remote employees, the rise of the Millennials, the need to work more cross-functionally across departments, and more.
The Result:
Elton’s research has discovered a set of leadership disciplines that make the biggest difference in building today’s best teams. He helps leaders:
• Manage to the One-Identify the drivers of each team member for maximum engagement
• Speed Productivity-Help new people and teams work faster & smarter
• Challenge Everything-Inspire greater innovation through healthy debate • Focus on Customers-Build bridges across functions, cultures, and distance
The Audience:
Designed for senior leaders and managers (although often tailored to include all employees), Chester Elton has presented The Best Team Wins to corporate audiences and association conferences worldwide.
“It was one of the most powerful presentations at the Summit. We are all still conversing about many of Chester’s very important messages. I laughed, I cried and I learned……So enjoyed it and would highly recommend him.”
Teresa Catalano, Litigation, Quest Diagnostics
