Fearless Performance Mindset
Interactive leadership and team-performance workshops that turn alignment into execution.
Using improvisation, agile practices and the IDEA → MAPS framework, Eric Shafer, Chief Transformation Officer at IndoorMedia, helps leadership teams communicate better, adapt faster and actually execute.
References
"I've worked with Eric for more than ten years, across three different roles and two very different industries. What he taught me wasn't a framework I could point to on a slide. It was how to listen in a room before I spoke in it, how to read what a stakeholder actually needed versus what they said they needed, and how to hold my ground on a decision once I'd made it. I went from managing a handful of people to overseeing 90 FTEs and a $25 million budget, and I can trace a straight line back to conversations with Eric at almost every inflection point."
Vice President, Technology Performance and Programs
ABM Industries
"Eric is genuinely fun to work with. He brings humor to the workplace and makes the people around him better. One of his greatest strengths is his deep understanding of both business and people. He is exceptionally smart and a creative problem solver. He approaches business problems from first principles, asks the right questions, and thinks creatively about how to solve them. He has a strong understanding of the technical, logistical, financial, and human components of an organization."
Operator Technology Solutions
Chick-Fil-A
Your Vision, Minus the Slides
The Executive Interview
Nobody leaves an all-hands saying the slide deck changed how they see the company. They leave talking about the moment their CEO got a real laugh.
Instead of your C-suite presenting, Eric interviews them on stage, live or streamed. Together you shape the key messages in advance, then Eric runs a conversation that uses comedy to get the vision across. Your leaders come across as people, the audience stays with them, and everyone walks out able to repeat what leadership actually said.
Built on Eric's work as Executive Director of Comedy Injection, where improv and comedy make complex ideas stick.
Ideal for: leadership summits • all-hands • sales kickoffs • offsites • streamed company events
Why Smart People and Strong Strategy Often Lead to Inconsistent Results
Meetings that generate ideas but not action
Discussions that end in a 'we'll figure it out' instead of clear ownership and immediate follow-through.
Teams that talk alignment but don't execute consistently
Shared objectives that remain theoretical until the pressure of the next deadline forces a breakdown.
Leaders reacting instead of adapting
Strategic leaders who respond to the world rather than proactively shaping the environment for success.
“Agile” existing in language—but not in behavior
Frameworks that are memorized but never applied, leading to a gap between intention and actual performance.
Keynotes
Executive
Interviews
Full-Day Experience
Half-Day Workshops
90-Minute Blocks
ALWAYS FUN, INTERACTIVE, AND BEHAVIOR CHANGING
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Team-Building - Break down silos and build real trust through high-energy improv-based exercises. Participants leave knowing how to lean on each other instead of around each other.
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Communication Alignment - Get everyone speaking the same language. Using the IDEA framework, teams practice listening to understand rather than respond, and walk away with a shared communication playbook.
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Performance - Identify the behavioral bottlenecks quietly slowing your team down. Through rapid-fire scenarios and honest reflection, participants leave with a clear, personal action plan.
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Fearless Advocacy - Teach your team how to make ideas land with any audience. Rooted in moral framing and the IDEA framework, this session turns nervous presenters into confident, adaptive communicators.
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Leadership Presence - Stop managing and start leading. This session builds the instincts busy leaders need to inspire action, handle resistance, and communicate vision under pressure.
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Conflict to Collaboration - Turn friction into fuel. Participants practice reframing disagreement as discovery, leaving with tools to navigate tough conversations without losing momentum or relationships.
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Change Management - Equip your team to stop dreading change and start riding it. Grounded in real-world scenarios, this session builds the mindset and muscle memory for navigating uncertainty with confidence.
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Storytelling for Impact - Help your team ditch the bullet points and tell stories that move people to action. Perfect for sales teams, leaders, and anyone who needs to persuade, inspire, or connect.
The IDEA to MAPS Framework
A practical system for improving how teams collaborate and perform under pressure.
IDEA –
Team Engagement
Initiate
Bring ideas forward openly without fear of judgment.
Delay
Suspend ego. Absorb context. Listen before reacting.
Embrace
Align perspectives and build shared understanding.
Add
Contribute useful action that moves the work forward.
MAPS –
Team Performance
Matter
Ensure the work creates real value.
Adapt
Respond quickly to change and feedback.
Perform
Make work visible and deliver results.
Structure
Create clarity and systems for execution.
BEFORE
Discussion without decisions
Ideas without follow-through
Alignment without action
Activity without results
AFTER
Create Urgency.
Build Alignment.
Drive Fearless Performance.
What Participants Learn
Transform your team dynamics from discussion to high-impact execution through a practical behavioral framework.
Improve Team Engagement
Build trust and fearlessness through active listening and shared understanding.
Build Alignment
Align across complexity and objectives to ensure the work creates real value.
Strengthen Execution
Turn conversation into immediate action and create accountability through behavior.
Get Better Ideas
Reduce ego-driven decision-making to bring more useful action into the room.
Increase Adaptability
Respond faster to change and use feedback effectively to shift from reactive to responsive.
Deliver Consistent Results
Ensure the work creates real value and deliver consistent results under pressure.
Who This Is For
Enterprise Leaders
Cross-functional Teams
Product & Ops Leaders
Marketing Teams
ShaferNotes
Philosophy
ShaferNotes takes its name from the concept of giving notes to actors. Notes are unique to the individual and are designed to get the best performance from someone. This may mean digging into the person themselves or it may mean giving that person the wider context (and consequences) of their actions. In my 25+ year career, I have been a technician, a sales rep, manager, director, owner, and leader. I want to share my notes on personal productivity, team performance, management, and most importantly, delivery.