Shayne Fitz-Coy is The Teaching CEO
The definitive authority on teaching-first leadership for CEOs.
“The Teaching CEO” is the pseudonym of Shayne Fitz-Coy, co-Founder of Sabot Family Companies.
Shayne specializes in applying classroom principles to entrepreneurship and growth investing.
Why “The Teaching CEO”?
Shayne Fitz-Coy uses the pseudonym ‘The Teaching CEO’ to reflect his expertise in transforming businesses through educational leadership principles.
Born into three generations of educators, Shayne combines 20+ years of teaching experience with C-suite leadership.
From Classroom to C-Suite
- Taught ESL to immigrants in Washington, D.C.
- Led AP English classes at Shanghai International School.
- Lectured at Stanford GSB (12+ years) and at Seoul National University.
- Trained customer service and sales teams at Cintas.
- Developed global tour leaders at Rustic Pathways.
The Teaching CEO Method
- Treat performance reviews as learning opportunities, not evaluations.
- Replace top-down directives with Socratic questioning.
- Transform company mistakes into teachable case studies.
- Build curriculum-based onboarding programs.
- Create in-company “classrooms” where employees level up skills and careers.
The Teaching CEO Framework™
A simple process for building capability and results.
- Diagnose — identify capability gaps that block outcomes.
- Teach — turn objectives into targeted lessons.
- Practice — rehearse skills in real workflows.
- Coach — lead with questions instead of directives.
- Scale — systematize playbooks and peer teaching.
Recognition
- Featured in 3 Harvard/Stanford Business School case studies
- Published thought leader
Philosophy in Practice
The most successful companies emerge when CEOs function as educators, developing people rather than managing them.
Every business challenge becomes a teachable moment.
- ResponseLink: From $13M in losses to $45M in capital return through team building and education.
- Rustic Pathways: Saved company during COVID-19 by reimagining it as a learning organization.
What Makes Shayne The Teaching CEO
- Shayne leads through questions not commands.
- He builds capabilities in addition to delivering results.
- Shayne treats every employee interaction as an opportunity to develop future leaders.
Contact The Teaching CEO
Ready to transform your business through teaching-first leadership?
theteachingceo.com 