Drew Dudley

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

• The Leadership Test: Six Questions that Transform People and Organizations

  This session focuses on empowering individuals at all levels of an organization to call themselves leaders. In this engaging and story-driven keynote, Drew Dudley shows audiences how to be more conscious and consistent in creating powerful moments of everyday leadership.

  Dudley demonstrates that there is a form of leadership that is driven by a daily commitment to acting on six core values: impact, courage, growth, empowerment, class, and self-respect. “The Leadership Test” is a series of value-driven questions designed to ensure that daily commitment. While the questions may be simple, the behavioural changes they generate build better careers, stronger organizations, and more fulfilling lives.

  Sharing stories from small town Canada to the deserts of Qatar, and insights from leaders of all types — CEOs, elite athletes, cab drivers, custodians, and everyone in between —this presentation will change the way you think about leadership in your life, workplace, and community.

• This Is Day One: Creating Cultures of Leadership

  Nothing plays a more significant role in determining priorities and behaviour within an organization than its culture. In this practical and process-oriented keynote, Drew Dudley shares a systematic approach to creating a culture of leadership at every level of the organization.

  Targeted to more seasoned leaders and “culture creators” within an organization, this presentation guides audiences in the discovery of their personal leadership values and demonstrates how those values can be translated into daily behaviours. Audiences will gain clarity on how those who are more purposeful about their daily impact score over 100% higher on measures of overall leadership effectiveness and trust.

  Honest, engaging, and above all useful, this presentation will help your audience to understand what their “Day One” needs to look like, remind them why they’re a leader, and make clear what they can do to be a better one — today, and every day.

• Courage: Leadership Impact in Action

  Navigating change has always been important for businesses, but the last two years have demanded an unprecedented amount of change from both organizations and the people within them.

  Acknowledging that our instinct is often to equate change with the possibility of loss, “Courage: Leadership Impact in Action” aims to help audiences reinforce their ability to act with impact and courage in times of uncertainty.

  Leadership expert Drew Dudley will provide audiences with practical strategies for embedding courage in their daily actions and embracing the idea that it’s more important to be decisive than certain as a leader.

  If you’re looking for a presentation that provides your audience with the insights necessary to make positive, momentum-building decisions when our instincts tell us to “wait and see,” this presentation is an ideal choice.

• Elevate Don’t Escalate: Leading with Impact and Living with Class

  Things can be a little… tense right now. Pandemic fatigue, social and political tension, and economic uncertainty have a lot of us on edge. It can be hard to maintain focus, particularly when dealing with aspects of other people’s behaviour that we find annoying. This presentation provides the strategies necessary to remain committed to living with impact and class when circumstances make those values hard to prioritize.

  In “Elevate Don’t Escalate: Leading with Impact and Living with Class”, Drew Dudley identifies — and offers solutions to — some of the most common sources of interpersonal conflict. These include a solution-focused approach to problem-solving, how to effectively address the role fear plays in conflict, and a simple trick for avoiding the most frustrating aspects of email communication. Each strategy reinforces the importance of elevating (seeking solutions) over escalating (attempting to win) in ensuring organizations success.

  If you’ve ever sworn at your computer because of an email or find your fists balling up thinking about a co-worker, this presentation will provide you with tips that help save careers and relationships.

• Growth and Empowerment: Leading Beyond an Economy of Scarcity

  The term “add value” can either be an empty buzz term or the two most important words in leadership. This presentation focuses on how to make sure it’s the latter.

  In “Growth and Empowerment: Leading Beyond an Economy of Scarcity”, Drew Dudley aims to dispel the notion that leadership is exclusively reserved for those willing to do whatever it takes to outmaneuver and outperform their peers. Instead, he challenges the notion that acting selflessly is a sign of professional weakness that will hinder career advancement by demonstrating the personal and organizations benefits of focusing less on becoming a high performer and more on becoming an indispensable teammate.

  A practical lesson in how to create and sustain a culture of collaboration, this presentation will reinforce the power of supporting others in reaching their goals.

• Self-Respect: The Foundation of Leadership

  In 2010, fresh off delivering his memorable TEDx talk on leading with lollipops, Drew Dudley was struggling to maintain his well-being. Despite inspiring audiences worldwide to embrace practice of everyday leadership, undiagnosed bi-polar disorder, alcohol addiction, and compulsive eating were taking their toll on his mental and physical health.

  In “Self-Respect: The Foundation of Leadership”, Drew Dudley shares the strategies he used to more effectively prioritize self-respect in his daily leadership routine, and reminds audiences that leadership growth only occurs when we recognize that a gap exists between the people we want to be and how we are behaving. Through powerful stories that recognize the difficult parts of life and work with humour and compassion, this presentation will provide strategies on how to close that gap each day.

  Easily Drew’s most personal presentation, this keynote is an ideal choice for audiences feeling burnt out or overwhelmed. If you believe your audience could benefit from being reminded that they are not alone in their frustrations and fears, and that taking care of themselves is an essential part of serving others, this presentation is a great addition to your agenda.