Andrew Brummer

Startup to C-Suite: Leadership Lessons for Visionaries and Rising Talent

Andrew Brummer is a dynamic leadership strategist who turns fledgling idea-carriers into bold, magnanimous pioneers. With over two decades of experience founding and scaling ventures—from lean pre‑revenue startups to thriving small businesses, Andrew brings a founder’s heart and a CEO’s vision to every talk.

An early advisor to prize‑winning collegiate founders, Andrew founded his first venture right out of college and quickly learned to navigate the highs and lows of startup life. Since then, he’s launched multiple companies, each emphasizing people‑centered leadership and long-term impact. His methodology blends practical business frameworks with deep emotional intelligence, ensuring leaders grow not just in title, but in influence and integrity.

Andrew has led CEO roundtables, entrepreneurship retreats, and executive leadership forums, working with everyone from college leavers to seasoned CEOs. His signature philosophy—Leading Magnanimously—champions generosity, clarity, and inclusive ambition. Through workshops and keynote presentations, he helps audiences reimagine leadership as a service: empowering teams, cultivating authentic confidence, and fostering a culture where everyone thrives.

Whether speaking to startup founders, small business owners, or emerging young professionals, Andrew delivers actionable insights and heartfelt inspiration. His style is engaging, approachable, and anchored in real-world stories and his audience always leaves with a toolkit for transformative leadership.

Published Books

Leading Magnanimously: How to Build Teams That Want to Be Led by You

Overview:

Great leaders don’t create dependency—they build trust, autonomy, and loyalty from day one. In this inspiring and practical talk, Andrew Brummer unpacks his signature leadership philosophy: Leading Magnanimously. Perfect for startup founders, team leads, and senior executives, this session explores how to shape independent teams that want to follow your lead—but don’t need your constant oversight.

Through powerful stories and candid reflection, Andrew reveals the mindset shift that turns managers into mission-driven leaders, and teams into self-led ecosystems rooted in mutual respect and ownership.

Key Takeaways:

• Start with Trust, Not Earned Trust Offer trust upfront—not as a reward, but as a leadership principle that inspires accountability and confidence.
• Be Deliberately Human Vulnerability isn’t weakness—it’s your greatest connector. Lead with authenticity, empathy, and emotional presence.
• Create Leaders, Don’t Do Their Jobs Your goal isn’t to be essential—it’s to be replaceable. Real success is measured by the strength of the leaders you develop.
• Transparency Builds Loyalty Share the “why,” not just the “what.” Context builds buy-in, and honesty fosters commitment.
• Small Things Are Actually Giant Things Remembering a birthday or asking about a child’s recital often carries more weight than any strategy meeting.

The Trust-First Revolution: Why Starting with Trust Transforms Everything

Overview:

Conventional leadership wisdom says, “Trust must be earned.” But what if that mindset is exactly what’s holding your team back? In this thought-provoking keynote, Andrew Brummer dismantles the myth of earned trust and introduces a radical yet deeply human approach: trust-first leadership.

Drawing from real-world startup experience, executive coaching, and team transformation work, Andrew shows how giving trust upfront isn’t just bold—it’s smart. Trust-first cultures create faster alignment, deeper ownership, and teams that rise to meet expectations rather than shrink under suspicion.
This talk is for leaders ready to challenge outdated management models and spark a revolution of trust across their organization—from onboarding to boardroom.

Key Takeaways:

• The Trust Paradox Holding back trust doesn’t protect you—it stifles team growth and signals insecurity. Learn why suspicion kills potential.
• The 48-Hour Trust Test Hear real-world stories of what happens when you give full trust immediately and how people rise (or reveal themselves) fast.
• Trust Breaches Are Learning Gold Mistakes are inevitable. Learn how to treat broken trust as moments of development, not reasons to revert to control.
• The Compound Effect of Trust Trust breeds trust. Explore how a trust-first culture spreads organically, impacting retention, morale, and performance.

The Art of Becoming Superfluous: Building Teams That Don’t Need You

Overview:

Most leaders measure their worth by how essential they are—but real leadership flips that script. In this bold and transformative keynote, Andrew Brummer teaches leaders to embrace the ultimate goal: becoming superfluous.

When your team can thrive without you, you’ve done your job right. This talk challenges ego-driven leadership and replaces it with a replicable model for scaling trust, capability, and ownership across every level of your organization. Andrew blends practical frameworks with real-world examples to show how stepping back is often the most powerful step forward.

Ideal for founders, managers, and executive leaders, this session equips audiences with a roadmap for building empowered teams and systems that don’t collapse when you’re out of office.

Key Takeaways:

• The Leadership Paradox The best leaders aim to make themselves unnecessary—not because they’re uninvolved, but because they’ve built strong, self-led teams.
• The Vacation Test If your absence causes chaos, it’s time to rethink your leadership approach. Learn how to build systems that function independently.
• From Doer-Leader to Leader-Doer Discover how to shift from reactive, task-driven leadership to strategic, peoplefocused impact.
• Delegation vs. Abdication Give away real authority while still owning outcomes. Learn to delegate without disappearing.
• The Multiplier Effect Leaders don’t just manage—they multiply. Create leaders who develop others, expanding your impact exponentially.