Chester Elton

Chester Elton: Leadership, Building Great Workplace Cultures and Navigating Change

Chester Elton is one of today’s leading experts on workplace culture, leadership, and employee engagement. Over the years, he has collaborated with renowned organizations to cultivate high-performance cultures that drive innovation and employee satisfaction. As the co-author of multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling books such as “All In,” “The Carrot Principle,” “Leading with Gratitude,” “The Best Team Wins,” and “Anxiety at Work,” his works have been translated into 30 languages and have sold nearly two million copies worldwide.

Elton is known for his provocative and inspiring leadership approaches and has appeared on programs such as NBC’s “Today,” CNN, ABC, MSNBC, and CBS’ “60 Minutes.” His work has been featured in major publications including The New York Times, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal. Canada’s Globe and Mail referred to him as the “Apostle of Appreciation,” while The New York Times described him as “creative and refreshing.” Larry King of CNN praised his works as “must-read for modern managers.” In 2021, Chester Elton was recognized by Global Gurus as the fourth-best leadership expert and the third-best expert on corporate culture globally. He is also a member of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches “Pay-it-Forward” project and has received the prestigious Thinkers 50 Coaching Award, recognizing him as one of the top 50 leadership coaches worldwide.

Chester Elton Keynote Topics

• Transform Your Culture and Drive Business Growth

Drawing from Chester’s proprietary research involving over 300,000 individuals in high-performance organizations, attendees will learn the core characteristics that enable the most productive and profitable teams. This keynote offers strategies to boost engagement, build a culture of commitment, and inspire employees to achieve exceptional results. Attendees will gain actionable insights into creating a culture where diverse ideas thrive, teams collaborate, and people feel energized and enabled to perform at their best.

• Leading Through Uncertainty: Empowering Leaders to Drive Performance in Changing Times

Great leaders navigate change with purpose and clarity. Chester’s groundbreaking study of high-performing organizations reveals how to keep teams focused on achieving key objectives, even amidst uncertainty. This keynote teaches leaders to align their teams effectively, build resilience, and inspire results-driven performance—all while fostering empathy and clarity of purpose. With practical examples and research-backed insights, Chester demonstrates how successful leadership through uncertainty leads to measurable outcomes.

• Building Resilience and Psychological Safety: Increase Productivity & Reduce Burnout in Today’s High-Pressure Workplaces

With up to 50% of workers reporting that anxiety negatively affects their performance, leaders must learn how to spot and address burnout before it impacts productivity. In this keynote, Chester shares how to build a culture of psychological safety—a workplace where employees feel empowered to collaborate, innovate, and face challenges without fear. The session provides practical strategies for increasing resilience, managing burnout, and improving employee well-being to boost team performance.

• Teams That Break Down Silos: How Collaborative Leadership Drives Innovation and Performance

Effective teamwork is crucial for success in today’s fast-paced environment. Chester Elton’s keynote helps leaders foster cross-functional collaboration that enhances speed to productivity and drives innovation. By learning the secrets to accountability and open communication, leaders can break down silos and create high-performing teams. Chester shares actionable steps for building collaboration and cultivating a culture that values both accountability and debate—allowing organizations to accelerate productivity and foster creativity.

Chester Elton’s keynote speeches are not only engaging and inspiring, but also help you achieve actionable results. He provides your audience with insights and practical learnings that can be implemented immediately in any team or organization. Be prepared to learn a new skill or two!

A truly interactive experience, Chester Elton is high energy and engages even the largest audiences on a personal level.

Chester Elton: “For nearly two decades, I’ve dedicated my life’s work to creating workplaces where employees feel engaged, empowered, motivated, and know that what they do matters and makes a difference.”

Adaptable to any audience and any situation: Your company is unique, so you deserve a unique keynote speaker who will inspire your audience. When you book Chester Elton, you don’t get someone who jumps on stage with a pre-written speech. Chester Elton gets to know your company, your people and your challenges through pre-event calls, research and interviews.

As co-founder of The Culture Works, a global consulting firm that advises clients such as American Express, the World Bank, Zoox/Amazon and Astor Chocolate, Chester emphasizes actionable strategies for creating outstanding workplace cultures.

In addition to his professional accolades, Chester is a board member of Camp Corral, a non-profit organization that cares for the children of wounded and fallen military heroes. He also serves on the advisory board of One Kind Act a Day, whose mission is to make kindness a daily habit. But what fills him most with pride is being the father of four extraordinary children and grandfather to four grandchildren.

Interested in working with Chester Elton?

If you are interested in exciting and inspiring experts for your events and conferences, please contact us. Our Leading Minds team is available to contact you at any time.