Leadership Transition Keynote Speaker
Direct answer
Chris Hirst is a former Global CEO of Havas Creative Network who took over at Grey when it was failing and turned it around. His leadership transition keynote uses the Leadership Equation (Impact = Clarity × Action), the Two Circles model, the 40/70 Rule, and the Five Golden Rules to equip new leaders with a practical framework for the first 100 days and beyond.
Chris Hirst
Practical keynote frameworks for rooms with real decisions to make.
$1bn
P&L led at Havas
10k
people led globally
3
leadership books
Chris Hirst's Leadership Equation (Impact = Clarity × Action), the Two Circles model, and the 40/70 Rule give new leaders a practical framework for the first 100 days. Drawn from his experience taking over at Grey when it was failing and turning it around as Global CEO of Havas Creative Network – hundreds of companies, 10,000 people, every continent.
Want to ask about Chris? ChrisHirst@clash.cc
Why Chris
Why Book Chris Hirst for a Leadership Transition Keynote?
Chris took over at Grey in 2008/2009 when it was, by his own description, "a really, really, really shit business." He admits he had worked there for six years already – he takes ownership of the failure before claiming credit for the fix. That turnaround led to his appointment as Global CEO of Havas Creative Network, where he ran hundreds of companies, 10,000 people, across every continent. His Leadership Equation – Impact = Clarity × Action – is not something he read in a textbook. It is what he learned by doing. Three books codify that experience: No Bullshit Leadership, Indispensable, and No Bullshit Change.
- Former Global CEO of Havas Creative Group
- Best Business Book of the Year winner
- Trusted by Google, PwC, Verizon and global leadership teams
What Your Audience Leaves With
A usable frame for the decision in front of them
Primary audience: Newly appointed leaders, CEOs in their first year, and executive teams navigating leadership handovers. Core pain point: A new role, inherited problems, a team watching to see what you will do. The pressure to have all the answers before you act. The gap between where the organisation is and where it needs to be feels enormous. Key message: Leadership is difficult but not complicated. If you only remember two words: clarity and action. Impact = Clarity × Action. If either is zero, impact is zero. Desired outcome: A leader who understands that the arrow between the two circles – the getting there – is the hard part, and who has a practical equation (Clarity × Action) and decision-making rule (40/70) to start moving immediately.
Topic focus
Leadership Transition
The Problem
Why Most Leadership Transitions Fail
Most leadership transitions fail because new leaders spend too long on the two circles – the honest assessment of where the organisation is and the aspirational vision of where it should go. Both are important, but neither is the hard part. Chris’s Two Circles model makes this visible: the start point is not that hard, the end point is not that hard, but the arrow between them – "that is the really, really, really difficult bit." Most consulting and most corporate energy focuses on the easy parts.
The second failure is waiting for certainty. The 40/70 Rule, via Colin Powell: do not decide below 40% certainty (you are guessing), do not wait past 70% (someone else has acted). That means roughly 30% of decisions will be wrong – and that is fine. As Chris says: "I don’t lie awake at night worrying about whether a decision is right or wrong. What I do lie awake at night and worry about is whether we’re making enough decisions." If you do not decide, you are a cork bobbing on the ocean. If you do, you are a sailing boat – still acted on by forces, but navigating.
The third failure is overcomplicating it. The Leadership Industrial Complex makes billions by making leadership sound complicated. Chris’s thesis: leadership is difficult but not complicated. The equation is Impact = Clarity × Action. The multiplication sign is the key – if either factor is zero, impact is zero. Most leadership failure comes from brilliant clarity with zero action. "Anybody that tries to make it sound complicated – call bullshit."
Key Takeaways
What Your Audience Leaves With
Impact = Clarity × Action – if either factor is zero, impact is zero
The Two Circles: the start point and end point are the easy parts. The arrow between them is leadership
The 40/70 Rule: decide between 40% and 70% certainty. Roughly 30% of decisions will be wrong – that is fine
If you do not decide, you are a cork bobbing on the ocean. If you do, you are a sailing boat navigating
Leadership is difficult but not complicated. Anybody who tries to make it sound complicated – call bullshit
FAQ