<p>Tim Salau is a visionary leader, author, and CEO devoted to helping people thrive in their careers and personal lives.</p><p> As Chairman, co-founder, and CEO of Guide, a global lifestyle brand and platform empowering mental health professionals and clinics, Tim is shaping the future of care and career by delivering tools that enhance patient outcomes and deepen post-session engagement. His work is rooted in wellness, workforce development, and digital transformation.</p><p>In 2025, Tim is releasing his most anticipated work yet — <em>The 7 Habits of Zen Leadership </em>(October 8, 2025) — a leadership book grounded in mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and the life lessons of navigating high-stakes change. It captures insights from his decade-long journey as a product leader, consultant, and founder across tech, health, and culture.</p><p>Previously, Tim led product innovation and development at global companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and WeWork, and has been recognized by <em>the Wall Street Journal, Forbes,</em> SXSW, LinkedIn, and Google as a global thought leader on innovation, inclusivity, and the future of work.</p><p>A Nigerian-American raised in Southwest Alief, Texas, Tim draws strength from his roots. As a first-generation college graduate, he earned his B.A. in Psychology from Texas Tech and his M.S. in Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin.</p><p>Tim is a lifelong community builder who believes change is constant, leadership is service, and every human deserves tools to live with clarity and conviction. Whether speaking on stages, coaching founders, or writing his next chapter, Tim leads with purpose, creativity, and care.</p>
Future of Work Expert and Former Chief Evangelist at WeWork
<ul><li><strong>Crafting the Workplace of the Future</strong></li><li>The Future of Work is here and it's changing faster than most orgs can adapt or fathom, even for big tech.</li><li>With the rapidly shifting technological landscape, every student, organization, and professional must find a way to adapt in a dynamic future where change will remain the only constant. A future in which technology, in fusion with human intellect, ingenuity, and potential becomes exponential and beyond.</li><li>Most discussions about the Future of Work only discuss the role of AI and Automation. The power of human potential is often an afterthought or joke. It's time we discuss how we craft new working structures, conditions, and standards to effectively support and scale both within your organization and beyond.</li><li><strong>The 7 Habits of Zen Leadership</strong> </li><li>Your organization doesn’t need more command and control. The leadership skills and habits necessary to lead a distributed workforce in a dynamic future are human skills, not technical skills. Leaders that want to build trust, inspire action, and nurture innovation must act as zen coaches, mentors, and guides, not dictators. </li><li>Leaders are no longer leading or learning in the Milton Friedman era, they are leading in an era of constant volatile change. Being able to build community, show compassion, and nurture trust within your team and organization are the habits and skills of zen leadership. The Future Leader is Zen. In order to be a dynamic leader, you must adopt habits of zen and the willingness to lead with authenticity, not a position title. This is the way. <strong>Building a Culture of Customer Obsession</strong></li><li>Companies that succeed in the global market don't succeed without driving a culture of customer obsession with their people. With examples from favorite big tech enterprises such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google to top restaurant franchises Chick-Fil-A, Hopdoddy and Tim Horton's, Salau shows audiences that customer-centricity isn’t just about being customer-focused, it’s about placing customers at the very heart of everything you do. Whether it's branding, marketing, product or — most important of all — community, your business should revolve around your customers. You should start with the customer and work backwards to offering the best experience. But how do you do this in a way that scales? How do you inspire your people, no matter their role, to remain customer-centric? How do you map the ideal customer journey? It all begins with developing a purpose-driven culture, creating holistic organizational structures and simply co-creating with your customers every step of the way. In this talk, Tim Salau shares a framework for building a culture of customer obsession that will allow you to rally the leaders within your organization to always think customer-first.</li></ul>