Stok
“I’m constantly talking about how much Within has helped us. We went through several different sets of consultants to try and help us on this journey of self-management. The way that they approach it philosophically has just fundamentally really helped improve our organization.”
Growing the next generation of leaders
STRATEGIC GROWTH - Successful expansion through merger as part of a 5 year strategy
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT - 100% of employees are actively engaged in driving their own professional growth
LEADERSHIP CAPABILITY - 100% of leaders trained on leadership for self-management
The Challenge
Stok is an interdisciplinary team of ESG and sustainability experts working to create a radically better world for all. Like Within People, Stok operates on principles of self-management, enabling a flatter organizational structure with greater equity and decision-making at all levels. As the business grows, Stok faces the challenge of maintaining this trust-based, distributed approach while increasing in size and complexity.
The Within Way®: The foundations of self management
Within is embedded into the Stok team to help scale their self-managed, hybrid culture through clear structures and collective agreements that supported equity and autonomy. We shaped a leadership manifesto grounded in human-centered qualities, and coached leaders to move from consensus-seeking to confident, trust-based decision-making. Our work spanned values evolution, feedback culture, and ownership transition — embedding new behaviours across the business. We also redefined professional development as a strategic growth lever, creating purpose-led learning plans through 1:1 coaching with every team member.
The Impact
Hear Burke Pemberton share the story of Stok on Reimagining Work from Within ->
Stok has doubled in size while maintaining its values and identity. Self-management has become one of the company’s core strategies for future growth, with trust-based leadership driving performance. Every team member has a personalized growth path, and the company continues to demonstrate that purpose-driven, self-managed organizations can scale without compromising culture.