Starting at the interface.
Stephen began formal coaching work in South Africa’s power-station environment, supporting people working across difficult cultural and organisational interfaces.
Founder profile
Stephen Blades: keeping the human story close to the strategic shift.
Founder and CEO of Elephants in Main Street International, Stephen works with leaders and teams at the moments where culture, judgement and change need to move together.
The founder’s work
Change becomes possible when people feel safe enough to make it real.
Stephen Blades founded Elephants in Main Street in 1993. His practice connects culture, leadership, coaching and experiential learning to the real work people are being asked to carry.
He is interested in the moment beneath the moment: the conversations people are avoiding, the responsibility that has become unclear and the conditions that would let a team move with greater trust, ownership and purpose.
“People are good and have infinite potential.”
A guiding belief in Stephen’s professional profile
A practice in context
From difficult interfaces to practical turning points.
The profile below is built from Stephen’s professional CV. It shares the work that shaped the Elephants approach without publishing private personal information.
Supporting a peaceful transition.
Work with the Wits-Vaal Peace Secretariat focused on initiatives intended to reduce politically related violence and help people move through a democratic transition.
Building a global practice.
Since 1993, Elephants in Main Street has delivered leadership, culture, team, coaching and experiential-learning work across more than 50 countries.
Keeping insight close to the work.
Diagnosis, conversation, experiential practice and follow-through are brought together so development can transfer into decisions, relationships and operating habits.
Continual learning
A wide lens for the work leaders need to do.
Stephen’s professional education and development combine management, coaching, sustainability, systems thinking, human-centred design and artificial intelligence.
Management, coaching & AI
BCom, Honours in Business Management, MPhil in Management Coaching, MBA study and an MSc in Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence are listed in Stephen’s professional profile.
Design, strategy & sustainability
Professional development includes Design Thinking through MIT, Sustainable Business Strategies through Harvard Business School and Sustainability Management through Cambridge University.
Making change practical
Six Sigma study through Oxford University sits alongside long experience in facilitation, coaching and project-alignment work.
Historic professional evidence
Trusted with complex work.
The following excerpt is retained as historical, CV-sourced professional evidence. It is not a current client endorsement or a promise of outcomes.
“Steve and his team deliver excellent work. I am most impressed with Steve’s ability to adapt in a complex environment, synthesise content rapidly, extrapolate essence and translate it into a creative and meaningful solution.”
Bertha Dlamini, President — African Women in Electricity and Power
Beyond the work
Contribution includes the community around us.
Stephen founded the Big Ears Trust, a community initiative focused on hearing access and elephant conservation.
It reflects a wider belief in creating the conditions for people to be heard, develop confidence and participate fully.
Discover the Big Ears Trust ↗A turning point worth making
Bring the real leadership question into the room.
Tell us what is changing, where the pressure is sitting and what needs to become possible next.