Shawn Stratton

Leadership and Team Building Expert
Calgary, Alberta

What Shawn is Passionate About

Leading from the Edge: Creating High Performance Teams 

A team’s success depends on effective leadership.

Through a presentation that’s both educational and inspirational, your audience learns the secrets to developing resilient leadership, building lasting trust, and making any team a long-term success.

Inspired by the real-life stories in Shawn Stratton’s book Teams on the Edge, this dynamic presentation helps your audience tackle team politics and interpersonal conflicts, transforming their organizations into powerful environments where ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Stratton reveals high-impact strategies that bring teams to the next level. Your audience will see breathtaking visuals of expedition teams in action and be inspired to take an effective approach to leadership. Stratton’s stories of triumph through adversity offer valuable lessons that are just as relevant in challenging office situations as in the life-and-death environment of the Himalayas.

Building a cohesive team can be frustrating, time-consuming, and seemingly impossible. In this keynote, you’ll hear dramatic leadership stories that address management trust issues, build strong interpersonal relationships, and can help make every team a success.

Your audience will learn how to find positive solutions to problems, discover effective communication techniques, and understand the leadership strategies behind any high performing team – all in one informative and entertaining presentation.

Your Audience Discovers:

• How to quickly develop and increase trust.
• Three disciplines that produce immediate change and take every team to the next level.
• Smart tactics to maintain clear, open communication.
• The secrets to strengthening a struggling team – one relationship at a time.

Silver-Lining Adventures 

The art of gaining perspective and tolerance in a crisis

In this stirring keynote, Shawn shares real-life stories and lessons of how he has narrowly avoided disaster. These stories range from his training for, running in, and experiencing first-hand the chaos of the 2013 Boston Marathon to losing irreplaceable personal effects as a result of one careless action. These very different, yet inspiring, tales come together through shared themes of gaining perspective and suspending judgment. As a teambuilding professional, Shawn explains how broadening your outlook, persevering, and taking a moment to show tolerance and patience for others can enhance team and leadership skills, especially in times of conflict or crisis.

Develop your teambuilding and leadership skills through inspiring stories that teach perspective and tolerance. Face difficulties in life and business with a sense of adventure and reap the benefits of that bold perspective.

Key takeaways:

– Judgment: First impressions are not always true reflections of one’s character

– Crisis management: Continually gather information and communicate effectively

– Perspective: Expand your horizons and you will have a different viewpoint

Lessons from Teams on the Edge 

Teambuilding Tools for the Harshest Environments

In his inspirational multimedia presentations, Shawn shares insights into building powerful teams through a recounting of his dramatic adventures leading expeditions to remote locations around the world. His stories illustrate how being in a leadership position taught him valuable teambuilding lessons, which are just as relevant in the harsh, life-and-death environment of the Himalayas as they are in a fast-paced and challenging corporate world.  To make any endeavour successful, a strong team is crucial. Shawn reveals leadership secrets that will transform your company’s group dynamic, and, in turn, transform your business.

Key takeaways:

– Discover Shawn’s ultimate directive for high functioning teams – the ATS rule of teambuilding.

– Learn the importance of focusing on three disciplines that can immediately change your team.

– Through storytelling and real-life experiences learn thought-provoking lessons that resonate and generate a call to action.

– Leave the keynote with several skills to practice, questions to ponder, and an inspired commitment to enhance your own team dynamic.

Why You Need Shawn

Shawn Stratton is an international leadership and team-building consultant, bestselling author, Ironman competitor, expedition leader, and podcast host.

Shawn has a Masters in Leadership from Royal Roads University. Driven by a love for education, adventure, and leadership, he devoted he has devoted 20 years to leading teams, including over 2,000 days of wilderness expeditions around the world, and eight years consulting with corporations on leadership and team development. His first book, Teams on the Edge: Stories & Lessons from Wilderness Expeditions, released in 2013, was an instant bestseller.

Shawn Stratton is an international leadership and team-building consultant, professional speaker, bestselling author, Ironman competitor, expedition guide and podcast host. Shawn has a Bachelors degree in Experiential Education and a Master of Arts in Leadership.

Shawn is driven by a love for education, adventure, leadership, and team building. He has devoted 15 years to leading over 2,000 days of wilderness expeditions into some of the world’s harshest environments as a senior instructor with the National Outdoor Leadership School and other international organizations. For nine years he did not live in one place for more than three months. As a result, he has travelled extensively across six continents. Along the way, his skill for fostering powerful teams has made him a successful, sought-after leader and international speaker.

As a keynote speaker, Shawn brings energy, thought-provoking ideas, and a passion for team building to the stage. He shares breathtaking photos, captivating stories, and valuable leadership lessons that are just as relevant inside the boardroom as they are in the wilds of Alaska or the Himalayas. His first book, Teams on the Edge: Stories & Lessons from Wilderness Expeditions, released in 2013, was an instant bestseller. Shawn has sat on the boards of various volunteer organizations, which benefit from his dynamic leadership and wide range of team-building expertise. He is a frequent contributor to CBC Radio’s DNTO and in 2013 he was inducted into the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s College of Fellows.

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Why You Will Love Shawn

“Shawn created an environment, far removed from the workplace and workplace roles, that allowed us to reconnect as human beings and to recognize the value of our colleagues as well as the impact our own behavior patterns can have on maximizing our potential as a team.”

Veterans Affairs Canada

“This is my second time working with Shawn and once again he has been an outstanding facilitator for our team building session. He brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience working with teams. His messages are delivered in a style that is interactive, thought provoking and a lot of fun at the same time.”

Inmarsat

“The knowledge and skills we gained from our day together are already being applied in the office. I was very impressed with Shawn’s professionalism and passion for team development.”

Maersk Supply Service

“It was a pleasure working with Shawn in the planning and delivery of our 2-day leadership team retreat. From the planning stages through to the facilitation, Shawn was a consummate professional and easy to work with.”

Suncor Energy

“I particularly enjoyed the audience participation aspect as it kept me engaged while providing an opportunity to practice new communication techniques. I’d highly recommend Shawn for any form of speaking engagement centred on leadership and communications.”

Project Management Institute


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