People inspired and counting.
Keynotes
Years of leadership experience
Companies across the world
Fahd is a startup workplace expert who brings the insights of Unicorn companies to everyday leaders. He transforms managers into leaders who build high-performing teams that scale—teaching how to lead multi-generational teams. He specializes in transformative leadership and team dynamics training for high-growth startups.
Before turning 20, Fahd raised over $1 million for local charities and was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20. He went on to co-found multiple tech ventures, including a mobile tech startup and a student entrepreneurship center at Carleton University that helped launch over 50 startups. Through these experiences, he mastered the art of balancing disruption with leadership.
Through his 15 years of experience building successful startups, running startup incubators and leading global teams, he’s identified the tried-and-true ingredient that sets high-performing teams apart from competitors—they have leaders who prioritize team performance over individual success.
He calls them Unicorn Leaders.
Fahd has spoken to over 100,000 people across North America on leadership and has been named Rising Star Speaker and Most Entertaining Speaker by the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. In recognition of his expertise and impact, Fahd has also earned the prestigious Certified Speaking Professional® (CSP®) designation — the highest earned recognition awarded by the National Speakers Association (NSA).
Today, Fahd is the CEO and founder of Unicorn Labs, which is helping tech startups scale. Through strategic facilitation with their proprietary Founder Operating System, and build their teams through the Six Levels of High-Performing Teams.
Our core Unicorn Leadership philosophy is distilled into the Six Levels of High-Performing Teams, where each level builds on the previous one. This avoids siloed solutions and gaps with a holistic, collaborative, reinforced approach.
of companies report a solid return on investment
benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills.
of people see an increase in self- confidence.
Every event needs a talk that sparks energy and shifts perspective. This is that talk.
Most organizations think their growth problem is strategy, technology, or talent acquisition. The uncomfortable truth? It’s managers.
Research shows that 70% of employee engagement is dictated by the manager. And yet, most managers are promoted accidentally—because they were good at their jobs, not because they were trained to lead. The result? Burnout, disengagement, costly turnover, and cultures that feel more like politics than performance.
In this electrifying keynote, Fahd Alhattab reveals the hidden lever every company overlooks: turning managers into multipliers. When managers are equipped with the right tools, they don’t just manage tasks—they multiply performance, energy, and culture.
Drawing on Unicorn Labs’ Six Levels of High-Performing Teams, Fahd shows how to unlock the untapped leadership potential already inside your managers—so teams execute faster, talent stays longer, and culture becomes a competitive edge. This is where managers shift into leaders.
This isn’t another pep talk about “leading with vision.” It’s a systemized, evidence-based roadmap to scaling leadership capacity at every level. Expect bold truths, surprising case studies, and practical tools attendees can use the very next day.
Event organizers love it because it hits the sweet spot of inspiration and action—attendees walk out buzzing with energy and equipped with a clear framework.
Here’s the puzzle: Why do some teams, with average talent, achieve extraordinary results—while others, stacked with rockstars, somehow achieve less than the sum of their parts?
The answer lies in a deceptively simple equation: 1+1=3.
High-performing teams generate outcomes no individual could achieve alone. When trust, conflict, purpose, and empowerment align, something exponential happens: every person amplifies the strengths of the others. But when those dynamics break down, the opposite occurs—1+1=0. Talent cancels itself out in politics, disengagement, and burnout.
In this keynote, Fahd Alhattab reveals the Six Levels of High-Performing Teams—a proven framework born from research, psychology, and years of coaching fast-growing startups. These six levels—Psychological Safety, Empowerment, Effective Communication, Culture of Leadership, Purpose, and Vision—map exactly how to turn groups of smart individuals into cohesive, agile powerhouses.
This isn’t just leadership theory. It’s a blueprint that any team member, at any level, can use to build a culture where 1+1=3.
What makes this keynote resonate is its universality: frontline employees see practical ways to improve collaboration, managers walk away with concrete leadership tools, and executives gain a roadmap for scaling culture and performance. It delivers both inspiration and action.
What if everything you thought about leadership was wrong?
For too long, we’ve been sold the myth of the singular, charismatic leader—the north star who carries the team forward. But here’s the truth: leadership isn’t about titles or waiting for permission. Leadership is a verb. It’s action.
In this keynote, Fahd Alhattab reframes leadership as something every individual can—and must—practice daily. Drawing on his journey as an at-risk immigrant searching for belonging, to starting a March Break camp for underprivileged kids, Fahd reveals the simple but powerful truth: true leadership begins when we decide to show up for each other.
Leadership isn’t about heroic gestures reserved for executives. It’s about the small, consistent actions that build community and trust—learning each other’s names, welcoming new teammates, cleaning out the office fridge, giving feedback that helps someone grow. These seemingly ordinary acts create the extraordinary: belonging, loyalty, and cultures where people thrive.
This keynote challenges audiences to stop playing small and start leaning into their own leadership power. Because when each of us claims the leader within, we create communities and organizations that are better than when we first joined them.
Event organizers love this keynote because it’s story-rich, universally relatable, and actionable. Every audience member—whether frontline employee, middle manager, or executive—leaves inspired and equipped with practical tools to step into their everyday leadership.
Why do Davids win when they shouldn’t? Giants have the money, the brand, the head start. Yet time and again, the Davids — Shopify, Figma, Etsy — rewrite the rules and topple them.
The paradox? Being small isn’t a weakness. It’s your ultimate advantage.
In this keynote, startup leadership expert Fahd Alhattab reveals how scrappy teams beat bloated incumbents — not by playing harder, but by playing different. Drawing from a decade of research into underdog founders and Unicorn Labs’ framework for high-performing teams, Fahd unpacks the rebel mindset and everyday leadership practices that let Davids punch above their weight.
You’ll hear stories of founders who stared down impossible odds — and won. From SkipTheDishes placing fake orders to keep restaurants from leaving, to Wealthsimple simplifying investing in a world of Big Banks, to Shopify turning a snowboard shop into a global platform, the playbook is clear: size is an excuse, not a strategy.
This isn’t about disruption for disruption’s sake. It’s about learning from Davids who show us that small, mighty teams — led with clarity, culture, and courage — can change industries. The only question is: will you?
