Aubrey Wade
A Boundary Pushing, Positive Disrupting, Way Maker - I make good trouble
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
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Aubrey Wade is a seasoned consulting professional, speaker, coach, and blogger with a passion for transforming workplace relationships and driving positive change. Based in Memphis, TN, she specializes in helping organizations improve processes, build strong teams, and guide C-suite leaders in driving company-wide transformation. With a hands-on, results-driven approach, Aubrey isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo to help companies reach their full potential.
Armed with a degree in Psychology and over 20 years of experience in technology, Aubrey has successfully partnered with multiple Fortune 300 companies to enhance team dynamics, streamline processes, and deliver consistent, successful releases. Her expertise spans organizational transformation, enterprise reporting, and optimizing performance at all levels.
Outside of her consulting work, Aubrey is a devoted wife, sister, and mother to three daughters, and she enjoys speaking and teaching across the country. Her greatest passion is helping people grow — starting with herself — through personal development, professional coaching, and leadership guidance.
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Case of the 'Mondays'... Where's the Motivation?
We’ve all seen it — employees dragging themselves through the workweek, struggling to find motivation, quality, and a sense of purpose. Whether it’s a lack of enthusiasm for tasks or a drop in work ethic, many teams today are facing a modern epidemic: the "Case of the Mondays" that seems to last all week.
As a leader, how do you break this cycle and reignite motivation in your teams? Whether it’s remote, hybrid, or in-person teams, the challenge remains the same: How do we foster motivation, maintain performance, and help teams finish strong—even when the drive feels missing?
In this session, I’ll share the best tools, tips, and strategies I’ve accumulated over 20+ years of working with teams, including those that are remote, hybrid, and facing dysfunction. We’ll dive into:
* Proven techniques to boost motivation: Practical methods for energizing teams and driving engagement, even when morale is low.
* Tools that work for every team type: Whether you’re leading a remote team, managing in-office employees, or navigating a hybrid environment, I’ll share tools that have been tried and tested.
* Handling dysfunction in teams: Strategies to identify and overcome challenges with difficult employees or toxic team dynamics.
* Healthy conversations with leadership: How to have productive discussions with senior leadership to advocate for your team’s well-being and performance.
By the end of this session, you’ll walk away with fresh, actionable ideas and tools to inspire even your most disengaged team members and bring new energy to your workplace.
Target Audience: Leaders, managers, HR professionals, team leads, and anyone looking to boost motivation, improve team performance, and address challenges in today’s work environment.
WE HAVE CONTACT! Creating Breakthrough Moments with Psychological Safety
It’s often said, “A house divided cannot stand.” Similarly, a team without psychological safety cannot thrive.
As an Agile Transformation coach who has worked with organizations of all sizes—corporations, non-profits, and everything in between—one of the most rewarding moments I’ve experienced is witnessing a team’s "AHA!" moment. It’s the instant when they "get it"—when they break through a cultural barrier, speak up, and build trust. In that moment, the team connects, their engagement skyrockets, and their ability to collaborate soars.
I’ve been fortunate enough to witness this with teams on public calls with Fortune 50 clients, and yes, there have been moments where I’ve cried as I watched transformation unfold. There’s nothing more powerful than seeing a team make the decision to change—and to do it together.
This session is about how you, as a leader, coach, or facilitator, can create these breakthrough moments in your teams. I’ll share practical strategies and insights on how to:
Establish psychological safety in even the most challenging teams.
* Break through cultural barriers that inhibit trust and open communication.
* Help your teams and clients embrace change—even when they didn’t know they needed it.
* Gain buy-in for transformation and ignite a passion for growth.
By the end of this session, you’ll leave with actionable tools to create moments of connection, trust, and growth in your own teams, no matter the challenges you face.
Target Audience: Agile coaches, Scrum Masters, team leads, change agents, and leaders who want to foster psychological safety and create high-performing, collaborative teams.
Pivot! How to Move Forward Without Starting Over
Have you ever heard of a company stuck maintaining 25-year-old legacy code, desperately trying to keep pace with modern demands? Or a startup still relying on its original, outdated architecture, hoping to become a household name?
Or maybe you’re grappling with a hybrid approach, where legacy systems and new builds are clashing, leading to tech debt and constant roadblocks?
In today’s fast-paced tech world, it’s easy to feel trapped, especially when your company is at a crossroads and doesn’t know which direction to go. The pressure to either transform or rip and replace can be overwhelming.
But here’s the truth: You don’t have to make huge investments or launch a million-dollar transformation to get back on track. In fact, some of the world’s most successful companies have found ways to pivot and innovate while maintaining their legacy systems. You can too.
Drawing from my years of experience in high-end tech consulting, where I’ve helped companies clean up messes just like this, this session will guide you through actionable strategies to pivot right where you are today. Whether you're a startup, a mid-market company, or an enterprise, this talk will provide you with a roadmap to:
* Tackle tech debt without an overwhelming overhaul.
* Balance legacy code with modern development.
* Leverage incremental changes to drive big results.
* And more…
You’ll leave this session equipped with concrete tools to implement in your own organization, without the need for a massive budget or risky "rip-and-replace" strategies.
Note: This talk can also be tailored into an interactive workshop where attendees will work through actionable plans for their next steps.
Target Audience: Leaders, Managers, and decision-makers navigating complex technical landscapes and wanting to find sustainable ways forward.
The 3 legged stool: A Powerful Tool for Agile Success
The 3-legged stool is more than just a sturdy piece of furniture—it’s a powerful concept for driving agile implementation and fostering collaboration. Over the years, I’ve found it to be one of the most effective analogies for teaching agile practices and aligning teams toward shared goals. It’s a concept that simplifies complex dynamics and helps teams stay balanced and successful.
In this session, I’ll dive into how the 3-legged stool analogy can be applied in practice to enhance team roles, communication, collaboration, and dependency management across various agile frameworks. Whether you’re new to agile or a seasoned practitioner, you’ll discover how this simple tool can serve as a foundation for driving meaningful organizational change.
Key takeaways include:
How to use the 3-legged stool analogy to explain key principles of agile to teams and leadership, making it easier to understand and implement.
Practical strategies for improving communication, collaboration, and role clarity, preventing common pitfalls like role ambiguity or dependency overload.
Why balancing your team—ensuring no one is stretched too thin—leads to healthier, more sustainable agile practices.
How to create productive conversations with leaders and teams about the importance of maintaining balance and avoiding shortchanging your teams.
This session will leave you empowered to foster better communication, streamline collaboration, and drive lasting change within your teams and organizations.
Target Audience: Agile coaches, Scrum Masters, team leads, managers, and anyone involved in agile transformation looking to improve team performance and cohesion.
Previous online presentation: (not this talk) https://youtu.be/NoONM9sIhEI
Michigan Technology Conference 2025 Sessionize Event
TechBash 2024 Sessionize Event
Music City Tech 2019 Sessionize Event
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