We all deserve to feel we matter.

On my first day at my first corporate job, 1,000 people were let go. I was the young whippersnapper walking in as many more people were walking out, boxes in hand. 

I saw firsthand the impact leaders, culture, and a lack of communication and psychological safety had on people. I remember Brenda, a 37-year veteran of the company, fearfully sitting in her cubicle, worrying that her pink slip would arrive next. As you can imagine, not only was her work productivity affected, but also her mental and physical wellbeing. I saw this same anxiety extend to the rest of the team. 

A handful of months later, I found myself feeling lost, disillusioned, unmotivated, and uninspired. 

I received news that I would be moved into a marketing role. Mulling over my future career, I shared with a mentor, “I don’t want to market an organization when I don’t believe in what they sell or how they sell it.” That mentor sent me a link to a TEDx Talk with a couple of million views at the time: Simon Sinek’s "How great leaders inspire action."

That talk changed everything. In Simon, I found someone who clearly described a world I wished to live in—one where the vast majority of people feel inspired, safe, and fulfilled. I started drawing his Golden Circle concept—WHY, HOW, WHAT—on napkins, explaining his ideas to anyone who would listen.

Thanks to a little luck and a lot of persistence, I’m proud to have been the fourth person to join Simon’s team in 2011. What started as a job answering fan mail grew into a role scaling up Simon’s social media content and presence. I went on to hold the roles of Chief of Staff to the CEO and Head of Training and Product Development. I led a global team of world-class speakers and facilitators, and shared hundreds of my own keynotes and workshops on purpose, leadership, and culture over the years.

I’ve felt it myself and witnessed it in others— when a culture rewards us for speaking up, we’re much more likely to keep doing it. The organization and its leaders benefit from the ideas, concerns, and even disagreements of its employees. Organizations with speak-up cultures are safer, more innovative, more enjoyable, and better-performing than their peers. 

Meanwhile, when one is repeatedly ignored, or—worse—punished for speaking up, silence ensues. And silence is dangerous, even deadly. Employee silence leads to missed opportunities, failure, and disaster, as we’ve seen with the Space Shuttle Challenger and Boeing 737 MAX 8. 

The speak-up message is more than an organizational imperative for me. As someone who grew up with and still works to overcome a stutter today, I know what it's like to feel voiceless and lack confidence in a classroom, amongst friends and family, and at work. (Top-notch idea to marry a Speech-Language Pathologist, by the way. Highly recommend!)

It takes work—a lot of work—for leaders to foster a speak-up culture. It requires leaders to have humility. Humility means that we’re willing to admit we’re both a part of the problems we experience and the solutions we can create. As a leader, a whisper is a shout and everyone is listening. 

I speak, coach, facilitate and advise to help humble leaders put their people and purpose first, and nurture the voice of others. My book Speak- Up Culture: When Leaders Truly Listen, People Step Up is forthcoming in the Fall of 2023 with Page Two Books. 

I graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business, focusing my studies on leadership, communication, and strategy and received my coaching certification from The Co-Active Training Institute.

I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, where I still live with my wife and two young kids.