Ignite Human Leadership
Keynotes and leadership programs that build trust, belonging, and wildly engaged cultures
AS SEEN IN
Meet the Team
“If optimism has a face, it’s Kristen Hadeed.
Kristen was the answer for our team. She transformed 90 people in 90 minutes. She packed in empathy, permission, inspiration, tears, laughter, and hope.”
SHANNON FANSHAWE
VP of Sales, Kerastase and Shu Uemura, L’Oreal
Let’s ignite
a new kind of culture…
Today, more than ever, we want to know that our leaders and organizations value our humanity. The organizations we partner with ask:
A culture where trust, belonging, and engagement are the norm because everyone knows how to value each other. A culture where people feel seen for who they are, empowered to have the courageous conversations that matter, and equipped to shoulder challenges TOGETHER.
Building this kind of culture is Kristen Hadeed’s specialty.
Hi! I’m Kristen
I haven’t always gotten this human leadership thing right.
When I was 19, I started a cleaning business with no leadership experience whatsoever. It was a disaster: Just days after I hired 60 fellow college students to clean hundreds of apartments, 75% of my team walked off the job.
Looking back now, I’m so grateful that moment happened because that's when my obsession with leadership and culture began.
The odds were certainly stacked against me. By definition, my cleaning business was anything but glamorous, and the margins were so low I could barely afford to pay more than minimum wage.
If it wasn't the work or the pay that attracted people to the job and kept them happy, what else could I offer?
Years of trial and error, mistakes, and countless lessons learned gave me my answer: culture. I discovered the importance of human leadership and creating an environment where people know they matter.
The result? A company that defied industry benchmarks and kept team members for years and years because they felt like they belonged.
More than a decade later, my work looks a lot different. After seeing the results in my own company, I was inspired to help other organizations create people-first cultures and ignite human leadership on their teams.
Today, I work with leaders, teams, and organizations across all industries to help them build their own cultures of trust, belonging, and off-the-charts engagement.
We spend so much time at work. I believe it should be the place where we feel cared for and where we know that our leaders and organizations value our humanity.
My invitation: Let’s build a world where this is the norm, not the exception . . . and let’s build it together!
OUR CLIENTS
Meet the Team
“To have Kristen come in with a unifying and energizing perspective is a breath of fresh air.
Of all the speakers we have heard on the topic of today’s changing workforce, Kristen’s message connected best with our senior leadership. It was a rare treat to have an executive who’s in the millennial demographic not only talking objectively about the characteristics of her generation, but also bringing to the table real, tangible ideas and action items.”
MIKE FRANSEN
Chief Operating Officer, Parkway
Kristen Helps You Ignite More Human Cultures Through:
KEYNOTES
Immediately applicable insights about:
✓ How to create a more human culture at work
✓ How to build trust, belonging, and engagement
✓ How to foster accountability through compassionate and productive feedback
WORKSHOPS
Training and workshops that help participants:
✓ Develop the ability to see one another with more empathy and compassion
✓ Inspire greater collaboration, communication, and self-awareness
✓ Increase engagement in your organization
CULTURE CHANGE WORK
Ongoing culture change work that leads to:
✓ Leaders who feel empowered to affect positive change
✓ A more resilient organization
✓ Stronger relationships and trust across teams
How do you create a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are?
STEP
1
CULTIVATE EMPATHY
When your people can see past each other’s roles and see one another as humans, you will work better (and more compassionately) together.
STEP
2
HAVE COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS
Courageous conversations provide a safe space where you and your team can communicate honestly, provide valuable feedback, and find a meaningful way forward.
STEP
3
DRIVE CHANGE TOGETHER
It’s not enough to just talk about what’s next; we must take action. Discover how to create a culture where people can work with integrity and shoulder challenges . . . together.
“A brave and generous book, the ideal antidote to the perfection and invulnerability we pretend are essential to succeed.”
SETH GODIN
author of Linchpin and Tribes
This is the story of how Kristen Hadeed built Student Maid, a cleaning company where people are happy, loyal, productive, and empowered, even while they’re mopping floors and scrubbing toilets. It’s the story of how she went from being an almost comically inept leader to a sought-after CEO who teaches others how to lead.
Permission To Screw Up dismisses the idea that leaders and organizations should try to be perfect. It encourages people of all ages to go for it and learn to lead by acting, rather than waiting or thinking. Through a brutally honest and often hilarious account of her own struggles, Kristen encourages us to embrace our failures and proves that we’ll be better leaders when we do.
THE BOOK
Take What You Need
RESOURCES
THE HUMAN
LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Learn to lead as your most human self with our signature leadership development program.
FREE
FEEDBACK GUIDE
Understand how to deliver feedback that builds trust and inspires people to give their best with our free resource.
FREE
RESOURCES FOR YOU
Discover Kristen’s curated list of her favorite leadership books, self-assessments, and more!
WATCH Kristen
in action
BLOG POSTS
LATEST
Let’s Connect
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I know that addressing feedback in a timely manner is what builds trust, and as a leader, I have made a commitment to our team to address things when I feel them.