FOR THE SENIOR LEADER WHO’S DONE FIGURING THIS OUT ALONE
You don't have a
leadership problem.
You have an operating
system problem.
Presidential advisor. Fortune 150 executive. Forbes Books author.
Cicely Simpson installs the leadership operating system for the
level you're actually at, not the one that got you here.
ADVISED 5 U.S. PRESIDENTS & ADMINISTRATIONS I FORTUNE 150 C-SUITE EXECUTIVE I FORBESBOOKS BESTSELLING AUTHOR I TIMES SQUARE BILLBOARD I 30 YEARS ON STAGE
AS FEATURED ON
WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?
Cicely works with three types of people. Find yourself below.

For The Leader, Team, and Organization Who Tried Everything
You've hit a ceiling you can't explain. You're working harder than ever, and getting less traction than you used to.
You've read the books. Done the courses. But Monday morning looks exactly the same as it did two years ago.
That's not a you problem. It's an operating system problem.

For The Event Organizer Who Needs A Speaker They Won't Forget
You've booked excellent speakers. Watched the room light up.
Then watched nothing change when everyone went back to work on Monday morning.
Cicely delivers the implementation framework your leaders are still using six months later.

For The Organization Navigating Business and Government
Policy risk. Government relations. Stakeholder strategy.
Cicely has 25 years at that table, inside the White House, Capitol Hill, and Fortune 150 boardrooms.
Most policy advisors explain the rules. Cicely helped write them.
THE FRAMEWORK
FIVE LETTERS. ONE OPERATING SYSTEM
The C.H.A.I.R. framework is behind every program Cicely teaches and every keynote she delivers. Built across 25 years in the most demanding leadership environments in the world, and the subject of her Forbes Books bestseller.


Champion Yourself
Be seen and recognized at senior level, without burning the political capital it took years to build.


Honesty
The hardest leadership conversation isn’t with your team. It’s with yourself.


Adaptability
Lead through change you didn’t choose, with composure, not just resilience.


IMPACT
Stop leading your team. Start moving your organization.


REGRETS
Every decision that defines your legacy comes with incomplete information. This is how you make it anyway.
She Didn't Study Leadership. She Survived It.
Raised by a Vietnam Marine who ran his household like a barracks. No excuses. No shortcuts. Every choice is yours to own.
Born with sickle cell anemia, a disease that dropped her to her knees mid-class, gasping for air.
Her doctor said: your health or law school.
She chose law school.
Didn't have the grades for Pepperdine. Convinced them to give her six months to prove herself.
Three years later, she walked out with the highest award a Pepperdine law student can receive.
Youngest VP at Dunkin' Brands, the only woman and person of color in the executive ranks.
Led eight national teams to unprecedented results. Got fired by a boss who saw her as a threat. Called it the best thing that ever happened to her.
Then Forbes reached out to her, not the other way around, to write the book on leadership.
She'll tell you: every door that opens and every door that closes is God showing a different path.
Even if you're not a person of faith, believe that something greater is leading you.
She has spent 25 years in the most powerful rooms in the world. Everything she teaches came out of something she lived.
Raised by a Vietnam Marine who ran his household like a barracks. No excuses. No shortcuts. Every choice is yours to own.
Born with sickle cell anemia, a disease that dropped her to her knees mid-class, gasping for air.
Her doctor said: your health or law school.
She chose law school.

Didn't have the grades for Pepperdine. Convinced them to give her six months to prove herself.
Three years later, she walked out with the highest award a Pepperdine law student can receive.
Youngest VP at Dunkin' Brands, the only woman and person of color in the executive ranks.
Led eight national teams to unprecedented results. Got fired by a boss who saw her as a threat. Called it the best thing that ever happened to her.

Then Forbes reached out to her, not the other way around, to write the book on leadership.
Most keynotes fire up the room for 45 minutes and leave nothing behind.
Cicely delivers what comes after the standing ovation: a framework your audience implements the next day.




WHAT LEADERS ARE SAYING
Cicely is a superstar!
I highly recommend Cicely as an expert on all things related to career growth. Cicely's career growth coaching can change the trajectory of your career in ways that will amaze you.
She has the power to captivate audiences, and when she speaks, you should listen. Cicely has a way of communicating with ease, which leaves her audience wanting more every time she speaks!
Once I teach my clients how to land their dream job, I recommend that they next speak to Cicely to map out and grow their careers with purpose.
Her knowledge of different industries makes her an invaluable resource for any career-minded person who needs someone to provide valuable advice about creating a strategic roadmap for their career to get you to where you want to be
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Ilene R. Executive Recruiter
I love Cicely. She is a no-nonsense person. Cicely will challenge you.
She will confirm your strengths and she will provide you resources and tools to develop the areas that she feels that there are opportunities.
Her energy, her experiences and just her attitude really connected with me and my interest and wanted to reach out to her to continue to challenge myself and develop my career into hopefully a new journey.
The one part that she has brought to light for me is I have been undervaluing myself in my work.
Her career experiences, her journeys of what she's done, the different industry sectors that she has served, and again help you think about not only who you are, but what you are and what you want to be.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Dawna Q., Director.
It is rare when you meet someone with incredible experience, composure, wisdom, humor and kindness, but Cicely is all of those things and more. I've watched Cicely instill confidence in the leaders she coaches.
She could have 100 things going on but you'd never know it, she makes you feel like you are the only person in the room.
I'd recommend Cicely to anyone looking for a coach, a great podcast, a thoughtful and excellent book, or a speaker to help your team be their best.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lyndsay D., Former IBM
She has helped me to be able to pinpoint my unique place of value as opposed to being very general.
She has not prescribed the path that she thinks each person should be on. Instead, she has been very authentic and tailored, helping me think through what, in fact, it is that I actually want.
She has a gift of finding in each person the skills that they particularly have, and then helping you to see how you can put those forward to other people.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Chalak R., Dean of Students
A NEWSLETTER LIKE NO OTHER
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Walk into your next meeting differently.
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