Keynote speaker · Former NFL player · Entrepreneur · Operator · National TV contributor
Leadership is Service.
The leaders worth following are the ones holding the rope. I help teams become people others can hang their weight on.
Trusted on the platform, and seen on national television.
100+ national television segments since 2014. Five leadership books. Two TEDx talks.
The promise
Most leadership talks hand a room a slogan and a slide. I hand them a question they cannot ignore.
If you were hanging off the side of a cliff by a rope, who would you want on the other end, and are you that person for anyone else?
A team that answers it honestly stops keeping score and starts covering for each other. That is service turning into trust, and trust is the whole job. And there is a second half most rooms never hear. A rope has two ends, and you cannot hold it for someone else if you have let go of your own.
The signature keynote
Rope-Holders
My high school football coach asked me the rope question at my first practice. It changed how I lead, how I hire, and how I build. It has done the same for rooms full of executives, and one company made “holding the rope for each other” a pillar of their 2026 strategic plan.
“A winning team is made up of 100% rope-holders.”
“Work's Allegory,” a bronze by María Ángeles Anglada. Two hands on one rope, and neither is letting go. It sits in my collection because it says the whole thing without a word.
“His theme of “holding the rope for each other” struck a powerful chord. That message has had a lasting impact on our organization and is now one of the three core pillars guiding our 2026 strategic plan.”
Who books Chris
Companies and conferences.
Culture, leadership, and the human edge as AI takes over the execution.
Faith and education.
Schools, universities, athletic departments, and faith-based organizations.
Trades and operators.
The people who keep the country's infrastructure running.
Soldier's pocket Bible collection
Chris holding the first Bible in his collection: a 160-year-old pocket Bible carried by a Union soldier in the Civil War, given to him by his brother on his eighteenth birthday.
The collection
My high school coach told me I couldn't play for him unless I became a rope-holder: the person the man on the other end can trust with his whole weight. A few months later, at sixteen, my faith became real. On my eighteenth birthday, my brother John put the first soldier's Bible in my hands, a 160-year-old pocket Bible carried by a Union soldier in the Civil War. Holding it, I understood what a rope-holder looks like when the drop is real: a man carrying his faith and his values for the people beside him, at the worst moment of his life. I have spent the years since gathering more than two hundred of them, carried by soldiers from the Revolutionary War to today, nearly every one with the soldier's name written inside and verses underlined in his own hand. Texas A&M and Coach Slocum gave it a name I had been circling my whole life. The collection is the whole argument, made in objects. Strip it down and it is one word. You lead by what you are willing to carry. Leadership is service.
More about ChrisWatch a full keynote
The whole argument, in his words.
I believe we're at a new inflection point in history...a time where we need a different kind of leadership to face the challenges ahead of us. But I believe it's important for us to remember the lessons from our past in order to help chart the course for our future.
See the mediaThe Collection
One artifact. One story. One lesson. Every week.
The Collection is a weekly email. More than two hundred soldiers' Bibles, a Roman crucifixion nail, a wedding ring from the ground at Gettysburg, and more. One at a time, with what each taught me about leading by service. One email a week, and you can leave whenever you like.
Bring this to your team.
Virtual 1:1
60 minutes
A focused session for you or a small group.
Virtual keynote or fireside
60 minutes
Your team or event, live by video.
In person
Keynote or half-day workshop
For the room that needs to feel it.