Shaun serves as a coach, strategist & consultant to organizations that prioritize human development and engagement in their goals for growth. As Founder of Trusted Leadership, Shaun implements systems that promote cultures of trust and belonging where true innovation can flourish and add to the bottom line. He is also a leader and coach for the International Humanistic Management Association. When he is not working and can be found practicing mindfulness on mats through Jiujitsu and yoga and fundraising for women and children in the red light district in Kolkata.

Key Moments

[03:10] Reevaluate work to align with human value.

[08:12] Surprised at being seen as an entrepreneur.

[11:33] Finding inner peace through meditation and mindfulness.

Find Shaun Online

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-mader/

https://trustedleadership.co/

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Transcript Provided By CastMagic.io

Seth [00:00:00]:
Entrepreneur’s Enigma is a podcast for the ups and downs of entrepreneurship to the wins and the fails that we all face being entrepreneurs, how we learn from adversity. Every week I talk to a different entrepreneur with a story to tell. I’m Seth Goldstein. Come with me on the journey. This is Entrepreneurs Enigma. Let’s get started. Hey, everybody. Welcome to another edition of of the Entrepreneur’s Enigma podcast.

Seth [00:00:35]:
I am, as always, your host, Seth. Today, I have a good buddy of mine, Sean Mader. We actually met through lunch club way back when, it was soon as, like, matching matchy matchy, not dating sites, but more more business dating sites, like, where you get to meet network and stuff like that. It was happened during the pandemic.

Shaun [00:00:56]:
Dark days. And it

Seth [00:00:57]:
was like, dark days. Exactly. So we decided that, you know, we should stay in touch. And he’s a former photographer turned I don’t know what you do nowadays, dude. Organizational brain fufu. You’ll fill us in on exactly what you do, but it’s a lot of organizational development and stuff like that. So Yeah. Sean, welcome.

Shaun [00:01:22]:
Yeah. Great to be here. And I told I kinda forgot that we met back in those days when I think everything Back

Seth [00:01:29]:
in the dark days. The dark times.

Shaun [00:01:30]:
It’s Kinda crazy to be on the other side here, but hopefully retaining some

Seth [00:01:34]:
of the good

Shaun [00:01:35]:
stuff like this.

Seth [00:01:37]:
Exactly. That’s the whole idea. So how does all get started? I mean, did you go to a college for photography? I mean, I know you’re a photographer originally now.

Shaun [00:01:44]:
In fact, to clear up what the ambiguity, I do do organizational development strategy.

Seth [00:01:49]:
Oh, that was right. Nice.

Shaun [00:01:51]:
So so I work with companies, of all sizes to sometimes troubleshoot, work with their people, culture, strategy, and leadership primarily. But you’re right. That doesn’t have anything to do with photography, at least on the surface.

Seth [00:02:06]:
Yeah. How did you go from photography to I mean, how do I what did you go to college for originally?

Shaun [00:02:11]:
So I originally went to college for literature.

Seth [00:02:14]:
Oh, so that’s you can do a lot with that.

Shaun [00:02:16]:
Right. The the well, weirdly enough, this actually does come full circle now. Because back in the day, they they would say, I hope they’re training you on how to say, would you like fries with that? That was Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. But, you know, it’s it’s interesting. I always had a a a hunch.

Seth [00:02:32]:
Mhmm.

Shaun [00:02:32]:
I’ve always been into a lot of different topics. One of those is futurism, and I had an, an understanding of what was going to be happening, especially with AI digitization. And what I saw was that there was going to be an impact on people.

Seth [00:02:46]:
Mhmm.

Shaun [00:02:47]:
Now people are my first love. All of my things I did in film, literature, photography. It was all about people.

Seth [00:02:54]:
Yeah.

Shaun [00:02:54]:
And I knew and I can foresee that in the future, we would actually need to get back to that if we’re going to be successful. And some of that’s really starting to happen right about now with artificial intelligence.

Seth [00:03:08]:
Yeah. It’s it’s a strange time.

Shaun [00:03:10]:
Yeah. Well, if we think about it, we’ve spent decades decades, if not a century, trying to fit into a mechanical mode after the industrial revolution where people were kinda like cogs and machines. And that worked for a little while. But now when you start to see, you know, abysmal engagement numbers, attrition numbers, peep you know, this isn’t because people want to job hop. This isn’t because people inherently are lazy. It’s that there’s also a breakdown in meaning. And a lot of it, I think there’s this huge opportunity and just gave a big talk to a bunch of executives on this is that if we actually get back to appreciating what makes humans the best, there’s a real opportunity to to kind of coexist and evolve with all of these changes. But right now, I think is we’re in a real phase of struggle.

Shaun [00:04:03]:
So that’s where ultimately this this switch from photography to all this. I had a parallel life where I was, putting my 10000 hours in leading large transformational leadership programs in the background. Yeah. I was

Seth [00:04:16]:
so you were always doing this in the background, but then you had your photography in the front end. Yeah. That’s

Shaun [00:04:20]:
pretty cool. And so but for me, they were always kind of connected. And then, of course, you know, there’s always these parallels of the lenses that you look at life through or your team members or all of that and and the lenses that you put on. And I was always very adept at working with some of my participants on their businesses even though I wasn’t

Seth [00:04:37]:
That’s wow. Yeah.

Shaun [00:04:38]:
Specialist. But I started to realize that there was a whole world to be creative in actually on the business side and, reimagining how businesses can function to serve their people, serve their customer, and and serve the bottom line simultaneously.

Seth [00:04:53]:
Oh, wow. That’s wild. And I know, you went because when we first talked, you were just getting started in this. And it’s all virtual. It was all Zoom this, Zoom that. You know? It was all this because we couldn’t meet in person. You still managed to get COVID, I think, twice.

Shaun [00:05:06]:
Still managed.

Seth [00:05:08]:
Still managed. Still managed. Exactly. And you’re originally from Wisconsin. Right?

Shaun [00:05:12]:
I literally just got back last night from Wisconsin. Yeah.

Seth [00:05:15]:
Oh, boy. Wisconsin. Wisconsin don’t Wisconsin. Yeah. I know.

Shaun [00:05:18]:
I was talking to a bunch of leaders and, they’ve got a lot of big companies, manufacturing and all of that. Mhmm. And then, also has

Seth [00:05:24]:
In the Midwest. Yeah. Exactly. So yeah. So you’re so you’re a photographer. What kind of photography did you do?

Shaun [00:05:26]:
I was the headshots or I I I hate to say that I was a fashion photographer because I don’t think I was a particularly good one. I think I constantly confused fashion photography with portraiture, which is my real love. So I’ve done every I used to be a celebrity photographer here. I live in New York City.

Seth [00:05:49]:
Yeah.

Shaun [00:05:50]:
It was a very I had a very strange life. I’d be spending periods of time living like a monk in India, and then I’ll be backstage shooting fashion week.

Seth [00:05:57]:
Every once in a while, I’ll I’ll check online. I’ll see Sean’s in, like, the Azores or something. Like, what the hell

Shaun [00:06:02]:
is Yeah. Yeah. I know. It’s, I I for me, the the contrast actually really, really help It’s fine. Verify a lot, and, it’s something that’s popped up through all this because, yeah, I’ve got a a body work with human tracking victims, sex workers, and their children. Wow. And then there’s just this glossy fashion, very New York stuff. And I don’t know.

Shaun [00:06:25]:
There there is something to being able to toggle between those worlds that I found to be very valuable.

Seth [00:06:30]:
If you still do the photography on the side for fun or you don’t have time? Because you’re so busy with Not

Shaun [00:06:34]:
a lot of time, but occasionally, if I, my friend was just hosting a a TEDx event.

Seth [00:06:40]:
Oh. And

Shaun [00:06:41]:
it wasn’t a big problem for me to throw my camera in and just help out a little bit. So

Seth [00:06:45]:
Yeah. You get some photos. Yeah.

Shaun [00:06:46]:
Yeah. Every now and again, it also keeps me entertained a little bit too.

Seth [00:06:50]:
It’s a good hot it’s a good side hustle.

Shaun [00:06:52]:
Well, you know, it’s also a strange it’s a strange paradoxical thing too. Sometimes I don’t like having doing small talk and just standing around waiting for somebody to talk to. So a camera can be both be a great way to age people. Yeah. But I also noticed, like, more metaphorically, I used to be kind of in the background always as an observer. So there’s a lot of times where I just don’t wanna have a camera there because it keeps me from participating in life. Mhmm. And then there’s other times where it’s just this great tool to kinda

Seth [00:07:23]:
So you’re very ambiverted. Ambiverted. Because introvert with mix with a with a extrovert, like, you get tired after a while. Like, where’s that camera?

Shaun [00:07:30]:
Yeah. Trying to time time those out to optimize, I think that’s a challenge.

Seth [00:07:34]:
That is a hard thing when you’re an ambivert, when you’re both introverted and extrovert. I was an extrovert before the pandemic, and the pandemic made me an ambivert. I mean, I get to the point where I’m like, I just can’t talk to people anymore. I need I need a break. I need to be head down working on a project. It’s just too much.

Shaun [00:07:47]:
I think there’s a lot of people who are starting to grapple with that. We’re not the same people. I I I did really well with it, but even I started to notice some shifts, and I finally had to grapple with it. Like, I I I hope people have a little more freedom with themselves to to grapple that versus, powering through because

Seth [00:08:06]:
Yeah. You don’t wanna power through this kind of stuff. Yeah. So so so have you always been an entrepreneur, or have you worked for the man at

Shaun [00:08:12]:
all or the woman? No. That’s always actually I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur, to be honest. And then other people think I’m very entrepreneurial. Yeah. I hate to say that most of it came from I didn’t think I could ever hack it being in a corporate job. Yeah. I’ve always been a bit on the outside looking at the larger system, and so that’s I’m very lucky now to be able to do that kind of work where I can help organizations kind of see themselves through a different lens, and to look at how to get more out of their people by give by it actually working for people and working for their bottom line. So I I tend to be some of these on the outside, so that that’s always been a bit of a challenge.

Shaun [00:08:58]:
I’m like, I guess I am an entrepreneur in that respect.

Seth [00:09:00]:
You you kinda fell on till you feel like, I guess I am now. There you go. That’s wild. So what’s in your mind then? What’s the best thing about being on your own and being an entrepreneur and doing what you want?

Shaun [00:09:11]:
Well, the good the good side, it’s, to me, it’s always a yin yang. You know? I love to focus my attention on the things that interest me most.

Seth [00:09:20]:
Yeah.

Shaun [00:09:22]:
And the harder part is discerning which things are really good that factor into to the offerings and work versus what doesn’t. And that’s that’s sometimes a hard thing to figure out, because I tend I tend to be I’m a hyper creative, so I tend to connect a lot of ideas and do all this.

Seth [00:09:40]:
Yeah. Mind mapping and stuff. Yeah.

Shaun [00:09:43]:
Yeah. For me, yeah, that’s kinda happens naturally. And so sometimes I’m I’m wondering if that was the best use of time or if it’s all aggregating and that it becomes this thing in the background that really informs things. But but I love being able to change my area of focus and go deep on things Oh. Mhmm. And then be able to go on to something else and learn. For me, it’s always this expanding kind of, repertoire of mastery.

Seth [00:10:13]:
I love it. So then on the flip side, what keeps you up at night?

Shaun [00:10:17]:
Honestly, I’m really concerned for how I see this this massive issue out there with people thrive, not really challenged to be thriving and and working well. I for me, the one of the biggest challenges is how do we go through a paradigm shift where we still support everything we’re doing with business, but have it work for people.

Seth [00:10:39]:
That’s a good one. Yeah.

Shaun [00:10:40]:
And what I challenged with is that a lot of the leadership and management mentality that we have

Seth [00:10:48]:
Mhmm.

Shaun [00:10:49]:
Is think is consistently showing up as counterproductive to what really works. And so this rift, I’m like, so how do you bridge this? How do you actually get people you know, so we’re that’s always the the the kind of not an ongoing challenge up here because you have to get Yeah. They never they never their process and people resist change. So it’s always this chicken egg kind of

Seth [00:11:13]:
We’re gonna take a quick break, hear from our sponsors, and get right back to the show. Absolutely, my friend. Absolutely. And then so what is the most important thing to carry with you all the time? You can go as woo woo as you want on this, buddy.

Shaun [00:11:28]:
You can

Seth [00:11:28]:
go as deep as you want or as surfacing as you want. You know what? I Besides the camera. Besides

Shaun [00:11:33]:
the Yeah. No. No. It’s funny. I used, like I said, I used to live like a monk for periods of time. And and I’ve started to realize more and more that no matter where I am, no matter what the the culture is, no matter what people are agreeing is normal, being able to to get centered in yourself and being able to to quiet the mind and quiet the chatter and connect deeply is the one thing, you know, through meditation, through mindfulness, through other practices. The nice part about that is it’s not heavy to carry around.

Seth [00:12:08]:
It’s kinda like you know? It can be heavy in your brain, but, like, it’s

Shaun [00:12:12]:
I have the brain. That’s the you know, it’s always gonna fit in the overhead compartment. You know?

Seth [00:12:16]:
That’s true.

Shaun [00:12:17]:
Travis is driving too lightly.

Seth [00:12:19]:
Yeah. Exactly. You don’t get charged for extra bag. Yeah. No extra bag. That baggage, you don’t get you don’t get charged for.

Shaun [00:12:25]:
Yeah. By the way, that is great pun because, I mean, the other, side of that is is also respecting how much we are carrying around without realizing it. That shows up when you try to quiet the mind.

Seth [00:12:37]:
That’s wild, Diego. It’s so true because there’s a lot of stuff you carry for us physically and mentally. And it’s like, you gotta kind of hone in on what is needed and get rid of all the other craft.

Shaun [00:12:47]:
I I accidentally end up end up teaching mindfulness sometimes.

Seth [00:12:51]:
Accidentally.

Shaun [00:12:52]:
And it just shows up all that. People who don’t have a a ton of practice expect that you’re just supposed to be able to wipe your mind clean. Oh, so I think it comes as a relief when you tell them, like, no. No. That’s not

Seth [00:13:03]:
Yeah. You

Shaun [00:13:04]:
can be meditating for ages, and that’s never gonna happen. But but, yeah, there is that process of having to realize what’s underneath the rug and being able to give it some space. And so for me, I feel like that’s one of the most valuable things I’ve picked up along the way.

Seth [00:13:20]:
That’s awesome. So, Sean, where can people find you online if they wanna connect? I mean, you’re all over LinkedIn.

Shaun [00:13:25]:
I think. Yeah. LinkedIn, Sean, it’s s h a u n, Mader, m a d e r. Website trustedleadership.co.

Seth [00:13:35]:
Yeah.

Shaun [00:13:35]:
That’s that’s our leadership and and strategy, consultancy. And, we’ve got the trusted leader podcast.

Seth [00:13:44]:
I know. It’s wild. It’s out there, and it’s growing.

Shaun [00:13:47]:
Starting to grow. Yeah. It started off as just, let’s just have some good conversations, and now the conversations keep growing. And that’s why I love what you’re doing as well.

Seth [00:13:58]:
Yeah. It’s fine, isn’t it?

Shaun [00:13:59]:
It is. It’s good.

Seth [00:14:00]:
It’s a good reason to connect. Exactly.

Shaun [00:14:01]:
Half the time, we probably should have recorded our previous conversations.

Seth [00:14:05]:
Oh my god. Our our conversations go so deep. It’s so much fun. Yeah. We should start doing that.

Shaun [00:14:10]:
Accident I call it accidental existentialism.

Seth [00:14:13]:
Oh, that’s a good one. I like that.

Shaun [00:14:15]:
A good podcast title right there.

Seth [00:14:17]:
Exactly. Well, Sean, thank you so much for being on the show. Thanks so much. You on, buddy. I’m I’m I’m thrilled. This is awesome.

Shaun [00:14:23]:
Oh, man. I’m a big fan. I appreciate it. And, you know, we’ll have plenty more offline conversations.

Seth [00:14:29]:
Absolutely, my friend. All because of lunch club.

Shaun [00:14:31]:
Who would have thunk? Who would have thunk?

Seth [00:14:34]:
Awesome. And we’ll see everyone next week. That was a great show. If you’re enjoying Entrepreneur’s Enigma, please view us in the podcast directory of your choice. Every review helps other podcast listeners find our show. If you’re looking for other podcasts in the marketing space, look no further than the marketing podcast network at marketing podcasts

Shaun [00:14:57]:
dotnet.

Seth [00:15:17]:
Gold steamingi. I hope you have enjoyed this Episode.