Biography

Chester Elton’s work is supported by research with more than a million working adults, revealing the proven secrets behind high performance cultures and teams. He has spent two decades helping clients around the world engage their employees in organizational strategy, vision and values. In his inspiring and always entertaining lectures, Chester provides real solutions for leaders looking to build culture, manage change and drive innovation. 

Chester is co-founder of FindMojo, a global assessment company, and author of multiple award-winning New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestsellers All In, The Carrot Principle, Leading with Gratitude, and Anxiety at Work. His books have been translated into 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies.  

Chester has been called “fascinating” by Fortune and “creative and refreshing” by the New York Times. He appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CBS 60 Minutes, and is often quoted in Fast Company, Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal.  

In 2021, Global Gurus research organization ranked Chester among the world’s top leadership experts and organizational culture experts. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches pay-it-forward project and serves as a board member for Camp Corral, a non-profit for the children of wounded and fallen military heroes. Some of Elton’s clients include GE, Novartis, Duracell and Pepsi. As an executive coach, he has helped high potential leaders at American Express, Cubic, and the World Bank. 

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All In: How the Best Leaders Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results

In this interactive and engaging session based on the New York Times bestselling business book All In—which includes research from more than 300,000 people in high-performance organizations—Gostick & Elton teach leaders how to Engage, Enable and Energize their workforces.


The presentation outlines how high-performance organizations deliver extraordinary results by creating a vibrant, productive culture where people believe that what they do matters and that they can make a difference. In this presentation, the authors relate stories of leaders in action that vividly depict just how these powerful methods can be implemented.


Key Learnings

The 3 characteristics of the world’s most profitable, productive organizational and team cultures.

The 7 steps today’s most successful managers use to generate buy-in and belief.

How managers at any level can build a productive workgroup culture of their own–where employees commit to the culture and give that extra push of effort.

Build Resilience & Psychological Safety

50% of workers say anxiety negatively affects their performance.

75% say the most stressful part of their job is their immediate supervisor.

60% of organizations plan to address anxiety & well-being in the next three years.

Even before the pandemic, anxiety was crippling the performance of workers—especially young employees. Today it is affecting productivity and leading to ghosting and burnout.


In their bestselling book from Harper Business, Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done, and in their keynotes/workshops, Gostick & Elton offer 8 tactics for managers to help their employees build resilience.

Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results

In his powerful keynote, the author introduces research that shows how a few vital leadership skills—when done right—can boost employee engagement and reduce turnover. He will also share the fascinating science behind why so many managers resist (aka: suck at) something so seemingly simple as gratitude.


Your Attendees will learn:

How gratitude helps managers understand the value their people are contributing—and what more their team members may have to give

How appreciation of employee efforts can enhance motivation & productivity, especially during times of change—81% of people say they’d work harder if their boss were more grateful

How leaders can master this skill to enhance team performance & trust—introducing the 8 most powerful gratitude practices

The Best Team Wins: 5 Disciplines of the Most Effective Team Leaders

Based on an 850,000-person study of the most profitable, innovative work teams, the authors introduce the new science of teamwork


Most employees today work collaboratively, but 96% of executives cite poor teamwork as the primary source of workplace failures. Given the volatility and challenges they face today, how can managers better lead teams to improved performance?


Gostick & Elton’s research has shown a set of leadership disciplines that makes the biggest difference in building today’s best teams.


Key Learnings

Manage to the One—Identify the unique drivers of each team member.

Speed to Productivity—Help new people and teams work faster & smarter.

Challenge Everything—Inspire innovation through healthy discord.

Find Focus—Build bridges across functions, cultures, and distance.

Testimonials

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
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.
– Lisa Stornaielo, Vice President Leadership Development, Fidelity
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.
– Erika Braun PHR, CCP, Golden Corral Corporation
Chester was outstanding and delivered a message that fully aligned with our vision. The audience engagement was off the charts. His energy and engagement style elicited many emotions from the audience, but mostly laughter. They are still talking about how motivating Chester was!
– Carlos Perez, VP & Chief Credit Officer, Fannie Mae
Chester not only understands the role of culture in a successful organization but he delivers the message in a profound way. Chester ROCKs! His message is clear, compelling and on-target.
– George McKerrow, CEO, Ted’s Montana Grill

Booksby Chester Elton

Anxiety at Work

All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results

Leading With Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results

The Best Team Wins

24-Carrot Manager

The Carrot Principle

The Orange Revolution

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Blog Posts

 

Embrace Radical Generosity This Giving Tuesday

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Celebrating International Men’s Day: Fostering Positive Change and Health

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