Maverick Author
CHRIS HERNDON
Former Denver City Councilman, Leadership Speaker, West Point Graduate
"You are not waiting for someone else to bring your story to life. You're writing it right now. Every time you show up with your whole heart—you're directing your own story."
About Chris Herndon
Chris Herndon is a distinguished leadership speaker, former Denver City Councilman, and West Point graduate whose work sits at the intersection of public service, community transformation, and authentic leadership development. As a powerful advocate for Radical Personal Responsibility, Chris helps executives, entrepreneurs, and community leaders move beyond polished résumés to build genuine connections that drive meaningful change.
As an accomplished public servant, Chris served multiple terms on the Denver City Council representing East Colfax, where he championed transformative initiatives that reshaped Denver's landscape. He successfully led the effort to lift Denver's 30-year pit bull ban and spearheaded the conversion of PT's, a crime-ridden strip club, into The Rose on Colfax—an 82-unit affordable housing complex with an early childhood education center.
As a leadership expert, Chris has spoken to audiences across the country about the power of curiosity, vulnerability, and showing up with your whole heart. His signature framework "See, Serve, Solve" has helped leaders in corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors recognize their blind spots, serve from authentic courage, and take responsibility for the problems that weigh on them most. A West Point graduate shaped by personal hardship—including family divorce, loss, and incarceration—Chris brings a unique perspective that real leadership isn't about credentials, it's about showing up fully as yourself.
Through his speaking, consulting, and community advocacy work, Chris is building a movement of leaders who refuse to hide behind accomplishment—helping voices rise, serve, and solve with curiosity, courage, and radical personal responsibility.
Chapter: "See. Serve. Solve"
"We're all guilty of arriving late to the moment we're already in."
In his transformative chapter for Maverick Leadership, Chris Herndon reveals the critical difference between leaders who manage through authority and leaders who inspire through connection—and provides a proven framework for shifting from transactional leadership to transformational impact. Through compelling personal stories and battle-tested principles, Chris exposes how most leaders unknowingly trap themselves in autopilot mode—and provides the exact roadmap to move from presence to purpose.
Chris opens with a question that changes everything: "Where are you?" Not physically, but mentally, emotionally, energetically. He introduces a disarming exercise—if there were a movie about your life, what actor would play you and what artist would perform your soundtrack?—that forces readers to drop into presence. It's nearly impossible to answer without becoming fully present. And that's the point.
"If you want to rally people around one of your ideas, your first job isn't to convince—it's to connect."
Through his signature framework "See, Serve, Solve," Chris provides actionable principles that maverick leaders use to transform their leadership: see what you're missing and be willing to be seen, serve with courage, laughter, humility, and empathy, and solve what weighs on you through Radical Personal Responsibility. The chapter culminates with powerful real-world examples—lifting the pit bull ban and transforming PT's into The Rose—that demonstrate what happens when leaders refuse to let go of what matters most. Chris's challenge is clear: "You don't need to do it all by yourself. You just need to do your part."
What You'll Learn
The Presence Trap: How even engaged leaders miss what's right in front of them—and the exact questions Chris asks to help leaders slow down and see more clearly instead of filtering through assumptions
The See Framework: Why our brains are designed to miss things and how to move from filtered perception to curious observation through two critical questions: "What am I not seeing?" and "Am I willing to be fully seen?"
The Four Cornerstones of Service: How courage means showing up with your whole heart, laughter builds bridges, humility flattens the space between leader and listener, and empathy means "I'm here with you" not "I feel for you"
From Awareness to Action: The Radical Personal Responsibility mindset with specific examples of how Chris spent years working to solve problems that wouldn't let him go
The Power of Vulnerability: What sharing your full story will cost you—and what you gain: authentic connection, permission for others to show up fully, and the ability to lift people up through shared struggle
Three Transformative Takeaways:
1. If You're Managing Through Authority, You're Missing Connection. If You're Leading Through Curiosity, You're Building Legacy.
We consistently miss what's right in front of us. Our brains filter millions of data points every second through assumptions and biases. Maverick leaders recognize they're always missing something—and they slow down to ask better questions. Connection isn't born in an echo chamber. It's bred through curiosity. Seek feedback from those with different lived experiences. That's where clarity emerges.
2. Being Seen Isn't About Spotlighting Your Pain. It's About Refusing to Pretend You Don't Have Any.
People don't want to connect with your résumé, they want to connect with you. When you tell the truth about what you've lived through, you give people something a highlight reel never could: connection. There is somebody going through something right now that you have already been through. If you're willing to tell your story, it may be the one thing that gets them through it.
3. Radical Personal Responsibility Means You Don't Stop at Awareness—You Follow Through Until the Problem Is Solved
What weighs on you? What can't you stop thinking about? That's your work. You don't have to care about everything—but if something sticks with you, that's the thing you're called to solve. Chris spent years fighting to lift the pit bull ban and transform a crime-ridden strip club into affordable housing. You don't need to do it all. You just need to do your part.
Chris’s Impact
Chris's leadership extends beyond public service to building movements of authentic connection: through his speaking and consulting work, he helps corporate executives, nonprofit leaders, and government officials move from management to meaning. As an accomplished public servant, Chris championed legislation and community initiatives featured in local and national news. As a leadership expert, Chris has spoken to audiences across sectors about the power of showing up with your whole heart. He is a West Point graduate who brings military discipline to human connection. Chris continues to build a movement of leaders who see more clearly, serve more authentically, and solve what matters most—helping voices rise, connect, and lead with curiosity, courage, and heart.
Connect with Chris Herndon
LinkedIn: Chris Herndon
Instagram: @chrisherndonofficial
