Peter Sheahan
Founder of Karrikins Group | Bestselling Author of Matter and Flip | Top Leadership & Business Growth Speaker | National Speakers Association Hall of Fame
Shade Zahrai
Behavioral Researcher & PhD | Author, Big Trust | 7M+ LinkedIn Learning Students | Peak Performance Educator to Fortune 500s
Shadé Zahrai is a behavioral researcher and peak performance educator who has spent a decade turning neuroscience and organizational psychology into practical tools for leaders. A former corporate lawyer with a PhD from Monash University, she co-leads Influenceo Global and has taught more than seven million professionals through LinkedIn Learning. Her book Big Trust (HarperCollins, 2025) is endorsed by Ethan Kross and Sahil Bloom.
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Shade Zahrai biography
Shadé Zahrai is a behavioral researcher, peak performance educator, and former corporate lawyer who has spent more than a decade making the science of human performance legible — and actionable — for leaders and organizations operating at the highest level. Born in Australia of Iranian heritage, she holds an MBA and a PhD in organizational behavior from Monash University, and co-leads Influenceo Global with her husband and business partner, Fayçal Sekkouah. Together they have built one of the most digitally influential leadership education platforms in the world, with more than seven million professionals trained through LinkedIn Learning alone and over 300 million views across her TEDx talks and viral educational content.
As a leadership speaker, Shadé Zahrai works with some of the world’s largest organizations — including Microsoft, Google, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, LVMH, JP Morgan, McKinsey, and Nestlé — helping their leaders and teams translate behavioral science into measurable shifts in performance, culture, and engagement. Her approach is grounded in her doctoral research and her decade-plus of field observation with Fortune 500 teams: identifying the behavioral patterns that consistently distinguish the most resilient, high-performing people from the rest, and turning those patterns into tools anyone can apply.
A LinkedIn Top Voice 2024, named one of LinkedIn’s Top 50 Most Impactful People, and a regular contributor to the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, CNBC, and Fast Company, she was also recognized by Adweek as Careers Content Creator of the Year. Before building Influenceo Global, she spent more than ten years in a top-tier law firm and a Big Four bank — giving her a commercial fluency that distinguishes her from many speakers who approach organizational topics purely from an academic angle.
Big Trust and the Four A’s Framework
Zahrai’s latest book, Big Trust: Rewire Self-Doubt, Find Your Confidence, and Fuel Success (HarperCollins, 2025), co-authored with Fayçal Sekkouah, draws on over a decade of research and work with Fortune 500 leaders to present a proven system for breaking the cycle of self-doubt and building deep, unshakeable self-trust. The book introduces the Four A’s framework — Acceptance, Agency, Autonomy, and Adaptability — the four inner attributes she has consistently observed in the highest performers across industries. Endorsed by behavioral scientist Ethan Kross, New York Times bestselling author Sahil Bloom, and Jefferson Fisher, it has been described as essential reading for anyone who leads under pressure.
As a speaker, Shadé Zahrai delivers what audiences rarely get in a single session: the intellectual rigour of a scholar-practitioner combined with the energy and accessibility of someone who has lived the commercial realities she talks about. Her keynotes are practical, evidence-grounded, and built for immediate application. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to book Shadé Zahrai for your next event.
Shade Zahrai Speaking Videos
Shadé Zahrai- Master your Mindset, Overcome Self-Deception, Change your Life
Shadé Zahrai - 3 habits that kill your confidence
Shade Zahrai Keynote Topics
Drawing from her latest book and her doctoral research into high-performing teams, Zahrai presents self-trust not as a soft skill but as a measurable behavioral driver that determines how people show up in high-stakes moments. She introduces the Four A's framework — Acceptance, Agency, Autonomy, and Adaptability — and shows audiences how the most consistently high-performing leaders and teams across industries have learned to act despite doubt rather than waiting to be free of it. Practical, research-grounded, and built for immediate application, this keynote reframes confidence from a personality trait into a trainable competency.
Zahrai has spent over a decade inside Fortune 500 teams, observing the behavioral patterns that separate people who consistently perform at a high level from those who plateau. In this keynote, she translates those observations — grounded in her doctoral research in organizational behavior and the latest findings in neuroscience and positive psychology — into a practical framework for individuals and teams. Audiences leave with a clearer understanding of what actually drives sustainable high performance, and with concrete tools they can apply before they leave the room.
The most common leadership development gap Zahrai has encountered across hundreds of teams is not strategy or communication — it is self-leadership: the capacity to manage one's own internal states, biases, and behaviors before trying to influence others. In this keynote, she shares the science behind self-regulation, self-awareness, and intentional behavior change, and gives leaders a practical diagnostic for identifying where their own self-leadership is most compromised — and what to do about it. Particularly effective as a precursor to broader leadership development programs or culture transformation initiatives.
Zahrai's consulting work with organizations including Microsoft, Deloitte, JP Morgan, and McKinsey has given her an unusually detailed picture of what distinguishes cultures where people consistently perform at their best from cultures where talent quietly underdelivers. In this keynote, she examines the behavioral and psychological foundations of trust, engagement, and psychological safety — and presents a science-backed model for diagnosing and strengthening them. A practical, data-grounded session for CHROs, people leaders, and senior executives who are working to turn culture from a talking point into a competitive advantage.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Shade Zahrai
Why Shadé Zahrai?
Booking Shadé Zahrai means bringing to your event a speaker who combines genuine academic depth — a PhD in organizational behavior, a decade of Fortune 500 consulting — with the digital reach and communication skills of one of the most-followed leadership educators in the world. She has taught more than seven million professionals through LinkedIn Learning, built a content platform with over 300 million views, and delivered keynotes to audiences at Microsoft, Google, McKinsey, and JP Morgan. Her content is evidence-grounded and immediately practical, and audiences consistently describe her sessions as among the most actionable they have attended. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check availability and fees.
What is the Four A's framework?
The Four A's is a behavioral framework developed by Shadé Zahrai through her doctoral research and her fieldwork with Fortune 500 teams. It identifies four inner attributes — Acceptance, Agency, Autonomy, and Adaptability — that consistently distinguish the most resilient and high-performing leaders and professionals from those who get derailed by self-doubt, perfectionism, or comparison. The framework is the intellectual core of her book Big Trust, and forms the basis of her keynote and consulting work with organizations. It is designed to be both diagnostic (helping people identify which of the four attributes is most underdeveloped in their own leadership) and prescriptive (offering concrete behavioral practices for strengthening each one).
What is Big Trust about?
Big Trust: Rewire Self-Doubt, Find Your Confidence, and Fuel Success (HarperCollins, 2025), co-authored with Fayçal Sekkouah, is built on a central finding from Zahrai's research: the most resilient, high-performing people are not free from doubt — they have learned to move through it. The book presents a proven system for breaking the cycle of self-doubt and building self-trust, structured around the Four A's framework. It includes a self-diagnostic quiz and practical exercises designed for immediate application, and has been endorsed by behavioral scientist Ethan Kross, New York Times bestselling author Sahil Bloom, and Jefferson Fisher.
What topics does peak performance speaker Shadé Zahrai cover?
Shadé Zahrai speaks on self-trust and confidence, peak performance and high-performance mindset, self-leadership and behavioral change, building high-performance team cultures, and the neuroscience and psychology of engagement and resilience. She works across industries including financial services, technology, professional services, consumer goods, and healthcare, and tailors her content to the specific performance challenges and cultural context of each audience. Aurum Speakers Bureau can advise on the right topic for your event and provide full details on Shadé Zahrai's speaking fees and availability.
How to book Shade Zahrai as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Shade Zahrai as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Shade Zahrai's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Shade Zahrai or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Shade Zahrai speaking fee?
Shade Zahrai speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Shade Zahrai to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Shade Zahrai.
How can I contact Shade Zahrai?
We only work with Shade Zahrai on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Shade Zahrai and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Shade Zahrai speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Shade Zahrai for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Shade Zahrai for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Shade Zahrai is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Shade Zahrai for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
