Available to book

Former Global CEO, Leadership Speaker

Chris Hirst

Effective Leadership

Change Management

Company Culture

Unlock high performance with Chris Hirst, leadership and culture speaker. Chris works with executive teams to build accountability, make decisions under pressure, and lead through complexity, drawing on his experience as Global CEO of a 10,000+ person organisation and as a Business Book of the Year author.

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Trusted by Google, PwC, Deloitte, PepsiCo

Chris Hirst

London, United Kingdom

Starting from

£6–10k

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London, United Kingdom

Starting from

£6–10k

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loading@getapeptalk.com

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+44 203 835 2929

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Chris Hirst's biography

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At a glance

Former Global CEO of Havas Creative Group, leading 10k+ people in 100+ countries
Business Book of the Year 2020 winner with 100k+ books sold
Host of the No Bullsh*t Leadership podcast with 500k+ downloads

Chris Hirst is the former Global CEO of Havas Creative Group, one of the world's largest marketing services groups. Today, he is a practising Fractional Chair and Non-Executive Director to scaling businesses and their executive teams. Under Chris's leadership, Havas rose from a mid-pack player to one of the world's top creative networks, delivering record growth, profits, and industry recognition across more than 100 countries with a workforce exceeding 10,000 people. In 2022, he was shortlisted for Global CEO of the Year by Campaign Magazine. Chris is the author of three books on modern leadership. No Bullsh*t Leadership (Business Book of the Year, 2020), No Bullsh*t Change, and Indispensable: The No Bullsh*t Guide To Career Success have together sold more than 100,000 copies and been translated into seven languages. He also hosts the No Bullsh*t Leadership podcast, which has surpassed half a million downloads, and in 2023, he launched an e-learning platform, making his methods accessible to professionals worldwide. An engineer by training, Chris holds an MEng from Brasenose College, Oxford, and completed Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. Chris's speaking focuses on leadership, transformation, and cutting through corporate complexity to unlock elite performance. His clients include Google, PWC, Specsavers, and PepsiCo, amongst other household names. Audiences leave with clear, applicable frameworks for building accountability, driving execution, and leading teams through change.

Chris's showreel and videos

Topics, sessions and talks

No Bullsh*t Leadership: The 5 Golden Rules

Chris Hirst, author of the bestselling No Bullsh*t Leadership, cuts through the noise to deliver a refreshingly honest take on what modern leadership really looks like. Drawing from his award-winning book, Chris argues that leadership is difficult but not complicated. Attendees will walk away understanding how to strip back the complexity and harness the practical, career-transforming power of simply getting stuff done.

Revolution: Leading successful change

Chris Hirst draws on over a decade of leading successful change programmes worldwide to explore how leaders and organisations can turn constant change into opportunity. Attendees will learn proven strategies for driving team, organisational, and cultural transformation in today's fast-moving environment.

Superpower: Understand And Change Culture – Fast

Chris Hirst explores one of the most misunderstood forces shaping organisations of every size: culture. Despite being the defining experience for people at work, culture is frequently overlooked by leaders who underestimate its power. Chris reveals why the ability to change, nurture and sustain a world-class culture is a leader's greatest superpower. Attendees will learn the repeatable secrets behind building exceptional workplace culture that drives lasting organisational success.

Execution > Strategy: The Myth Of The Perfect Moment

Most organisations have no shortage of ideas. What they lack is the discipline and culture to execute them. Drawing on his time as a Chair and Global CEO, and on inspiration from IBM and the statesman Colin Powell, Chris dismantles the myth that waiting for the right conditions leads to better outcomes. He makes the case for a simple formula - simplify, decide, execute, move fast - and shows how culture, understanding fear, and even better-run meetings can transform an organisation from one that talks a good game to one that consistently wins.

Why we recommend booking Chris

Chris brings the kind of leadership perspective that comes from running a global organisation of 10,000 people, not just advising them. His practical, no-nonsense frameworks land especially well with senior leadership teams navigating transformation or accountability challenges.

Check Chris's availability

Trusted by Google, PwC, Deloitte, PepsiCo

Testimonials

Chris is an exceptional leader with an ability to simplify what is complex and galvanise action.

Sarah Byrne

Google

Chris was a huge hit - not just with clients but also with the PwC team.

Bridget Uebel

PwC

The best one yet. A rare discussion that pushed us to feeling slightly uncomfortable - in the best possible way.

Global Hedge Fund

Featured Projects

Indispensable: The No Bullsh*t Guide to Thriving in the Workplace

15,000+ experts

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How do I book Chris Hirst for my next event?

Email chris.hirst@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience. As speaker agents, PepTalk can secure Chris Hirst for commercial and corporate events, conference keynotes, leadership talks, celebrity brand endorsements & partnerships, personal appearances, and motivational speaking engagements. We can assist with enquiries about Chris Hirst's speaking fees, availability, and booking process for private business functions, industry conferences, and team events. Please note, for media interviews, autographs, charity appearances, or personal matters, we recommend contacting Chris Hirst directly.

What is Chris Hirst's speaking style like?

Chris delivers clear, memorable insights with a straightforward style. His leadership approach is refreshing, effective, and impactful, making complex ideas simple and actionable for business audiences.

What topics does Chris Hirst specialise in?

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