How Real Leaders Build Teams That Tell the Truth

When you start your first business, leadership might not be the first thing on your mind. You’re focused on product, customers, cash flow, and survival.

But as Stephen Shedletzky explained on the latest episode of The Unsure Entrepreneur Podcast, leadership begins the moment you bring another person into your business.

Stephen is the author of Speak-Up Culture: When Leaders Truly Listen, People Step Up and founder of Shed Inspires (website ShedInspires.com), a leadership coaching firm that helps organizations build psychological safety — the confidence to speak up, disagree, and share ideas without fear.

Before launching his firm, Stephen spent years working alongside famed author Simon Sinek, co-hosting the Start with Why podcast and helping companies around the world develop purpose-driven leadership programs.

Employees are 92% more likely to stay

Why should leaders care about empowering employees to speak up? He says it best: “We can’t ask people to perform at their best, to share their best ideas, if we haven’t created an environment in which they feel that it’s psychologically safe to do so.”

That’s the heart of a speak-up culture — a workplace where it feels safe and worth it to share ideas, concerns, and feedback. When that happens, employees are 92% more likely to stay and perform at their full potential.

Stephen describes psychological safety as “an environment in which it feels safe to take interpersonal risk.” That might mean trying a new approach, offering feedback, or suggesting a smarter way to do something. In small teams, this can make or break morale. “If someone speaks up with something that’s inconvenient to hear — though likely true — you should pay attention,” he said.

Three lessons for new entrepreneurs

If you’re building a small business and hiring your first employees, here’s what Stephen wants you to know:

1. You can’t do it all. Know your strengths and delegate the rest. “Hire for where you’ll get in your own way,” he said.

2. Encourage and reward honesty. When people challenge your ideas, it’s not defiance — it’s commitment.

3. Create safety from day one. Ask open-ended questions, stay silent, and show gratitude for input, even if you don’t act on it.

Those simple habits will help you build a culture where people feel heard and valued.

Don't worry about being the best leader from day one. As Stephen explains, “Leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress.” He believes leadership silence can sink a business because it leads to disengagement, turnover, and missed opportunities. On the flip side, when people know their ideas matter, they’ll bring their best energy to work every day.

“The definition of leadership is the attempt to leave the people and world around you better than when you found them.”

In our conversation, Stephen also offers a personal reflection about entrepreneurial style. “There’s a difference between a startup that’s designed to scale and a lifestyle business designed to sustain,” he said. Both are valid, but you need to be honest about which one you want. It’s about self-awareness — the same skill great leaders practice daily.

My favourite quote from Stephen during our interview is when he says, “The definition of leadership is the attempt to leave the people and world around you better than when you found them.” Whether you’re leading one person or a team of fifty, that principle applies.

When you make it safe to speak up, you’ll uncover better ideas, stronger loyalty, and a more human business.

You can hear the full conversation on The Unsure Entrepreneur Podcast.

And learn more about Stephen’s work and get a copy of his book at ShedInspires.com.