Chester Elton
High Performing Culture and Leaders, Employee Engagement, Teamwork Expert
Chester Elton is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Business Author, Organizational Culture, Employee Engagement and Leadership Expert.
One of today’s most influential voices in workplace trends, 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, Elton provides real solutions to leaders looking to build culture, drive innovation, and enhance wellness. Elton’s work is supported by research with more than one million 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 bestselling leadership books including All In, The Carrot Principle, Leading with Gratitude and Anxiety at Work. His books have been translated in more than 30 languages and have sold more than 1.6 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 2022, the Global Gurus research organization ranked him No. 3 among the world’s top leadership experts and No. 3 for organizational culture. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and is a Thinkers 50 Coaching Award winner. Elton is the co-founder of The Culture Works 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 and coach to firms such as American Express, The World Bank, Zoox, Momofuku, and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL.
He is most proud to be the father of four exceptional children, three delightful grandchildren, and married to the amazing Heidi for 40 years.
All In - How Great Leaders Develop a Culture of Belief and Deliver 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
•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 Elton has presented “All In” to corporate audiences and association conferences worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific culture challenges.
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.
Be a Better Manager by Friday: Real Skills for Inspiring Employees, Leading a Team, and Winning in Today’s Transformative Marketplace
The Dilemma: For leaders looking to drive innovation, diversity, and inclusion in their teams, many established management practices are doing more harm than good. Too many leaders are dampening their employees’ exuberance and refreshing diversity with old-school management approaches that are killing their cultures.
The Research: Chester Elton has been one of the most influential voices in leadership research and organizational consulting for more than two decades, but it’s his research over the last few years that’s garnering extra attention. After surveying more than 14,000 working adults in 2015-16 alone, he has found 5 principles of effective leadership that managers in the 21st Century can employ to great effect, and 5 principles that must be avoided.
The Result: In a fresh, funny and challenging keynote presentation, Elton debunks myths such as The Smartest Person in the Room, Treating Everyone the Same is Fair, Appreciation Comes in a Paycheck, and We’ll Let You Know if You Mess Up. He teaches audiences how to lead in such a way that today’s employees will follow—including establishing a clear future vision, enhancing diversity, increasing trust levels, and providing opportunity and growth development paths.
An outstanding speaker, Chester’s valuable message was punctuated with incredible energy and humor.
In-N-Out Burger
Chester was outstanding and delivered a message that fully aligned with our vision. The audience engagement was off the charts. He incorporated specific Fannie Mae examples into his session to make the menage relevant to our employees. His energy and engagement style elicited many emotions from the audience, but mostly laughter. They are still talking about how motivating Chester was! He was a fantastic ending to our annual conference.
Fannie Mae
Folks at various levels throughout our organization are still raving about Chester's session. He received the highest marks of any speaker. Not only was he entertaining, but he put time into getting it right and the content really resonated with this group. That says a lot for such a quiet and cynical crowd.
Fidelity Investments
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.
General Mills
Chester's extremely high energy is contagious with audiences as he inspired and motivated our attendees. He really took the time to get to know Golden Corral and customized his remarks to be relevant for our restaurant managers and franchisees. He continues to rank among our best speakers ever and I highly recommend Chester.
Golden Corral Corporation
OMG, I have to say Chester has been our BEST speaker!!!! He was engaging, funny and had a concrete message. He was well received. His interaction with the audience was the best. I will definitely recommend Chester to other colleagues at JNJ! Thank you for making this possible!!!!
Janssen Pharm
Chester was the “WOW” at our conference. His “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.
Aetna
Anxiety at Work
All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results
The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance
Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results
The Best Team Wins: The New Science of High Performance
