Elevating Leaders. Driving Real Results.
Partnering with Executives to navigate complexity, lead change, and deliver impact.
Get to Know Chick
The perspective, experience, and values behind the work.
Chick Herbert has 35+ years of experience working in the public and private sectors as an executive business leader, keynote speaker, executive coach, and independent consultant. Chick is passionate about helping others maximize their potential and living a fulfilled life. His successful career spans more than a dozen industries and provides Chick a wealth of experiential knowledge and perspective.
Chick is the co-author of the popular book It Begs the Question – Learn how the best managers drive performance through Question-Centric Coaching. The concepts and tools introduced in It Begs the Question help leaders develop the critical thinking skills of their team and have been integrated into organizations across North America.
Chick has held executive leadership roles in technology, strategy, leadership development, talent planning, business development, training, customer experience, human resources, and operations. In his current role as Chief Experience Officer for NCMIC Group, Inc., Chick is responsible for developing people, technology, and strategy to profitably grow the business. In his previous executive leadership role for a Fortune 20 financial services organization, Chick led a team responsible for business strategy, digital innovation, training and customer experience.
Chick is a dynamic public speaker who engages audiences with insightful storytelling and a commonsense approach to improving personal and organizational performance. Attendees describe Chick as possessing the unique ability to simplify complex situations and identify key activities that generate measurable results. Chick’s approachable style allows him to quickly build high-trust relationships with leaders and create a safe environment for self-reflection, dialog and action.
Chick is an active community leader and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa where he was recognized as the 2024 Board Member of the Year. He was on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics Iowa for 9 years and served as Board Chair and was recognized as the State of Iowa Volunteer of the Year. Chick is a member of the Central Iowa United Way Campaign Cabinet, Des Moines Partnership Talent Development Board, and the JDRF Corporate Development Committee.
Chick lives in West Des Moines, IA with his wife Shari and has three adult children.
How Chick Can Help You
Expertise Designed to Deliver Results
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Keynote Speaking
Engaging and thought-provoking keynotes that help leaders make sense of complexity and lead with clarity in uncertain environments. Each talk blends real-world experience, storytelling, systems thinking, and powerful questions that challenge assumptions and spark meaningful action. Audiences leave inspired—and equipped—to think differently about the problems they face.
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Executive Coaching
A reflective and results-oriented coaching partnership designed to strengthen leaders’ judgment, confidence, and impact. Using Question-Centric Coaching, I help executives sharpen their critical thinking while navigating complex organizational and personal challenges. The focus is always on practical insight that translates into better decisions and sustained effectiveness.
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Leadership Team Development
Support for leadership teams seeking greater alignment, trust, and collective effectiveness. Through facilitated dialogue and systems-based insight, teams learn to address root causes rather than symptoms and engage in more productive, strategic conversations. The result is a leadership team that thinks together, decides better, and acts with clarity.
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Organizational Development
A holistic approach to improving organizational effectiveness by understanding how structures, culture, and behaviors interact. I work with leaders to diagnose systemic issues and design practical interventions that drive lasting change. The emphasis is on building internal capability, not quick fixes.
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General Consulting
Pragmatic consulting support for leaders facing complex, high-stakes challenges. I partner with clients to clarify the real problem, ask better questions, and develop actionable strategies grounded in systems thinking. The work is collaborative, thoughtful, and focused on outcomes that matter.
Leadership Conversations
Video Discussions on Growth, Strategy, and MORE
Testimonials
Kind Words from Great People
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"Chick's message is one that is missing from far too many business and customer service environments today. With an ever-increasingly complex landscape employees are expected to navigate on their way to successful business and customer service delivery, the ability to make independent, logical, and expeditious decisions is an endangered skill. Chick’s personality and presentation style engages the audience, fosters credibility, and delivers a powerful message with a healthy blend of storytelling, wit, and humor. Perhaps the most powerful compliment a speaker can receive is a statement I witnessed one of my team making. “That guy gets it, he knows what we deal with”. While a simple statement, its power is not to be denied."
Chief Operations Officer, Healthcare
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"My leadership team had the opportunity to listen to Chick Herbert present on leadership fundamentals and to say it was thought provoking, inspiring, and motivating would be an understatement. Chick has such a unique skill set which allows him to present extremely relevant and practical concepts that resonate with the audience well after they participate in the session. He captured the team’s attention by establishing his credibility as a leader while also sharing personal experiences and stories which connect the fundamentals together throughout the presentation. Our team walked away from this session practicing self-development with a unified call to action to improve upon their commitment to leadership."
Executive Vice President, Financial Services
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"The customized workshop that Chick delivered to my development team of 75 at our annual retreat centered on how to use tools and tactics that create accountability, discipline, and focus to drive the right results. Chick’s style is engaging, inspiring, and interactive. He connects well to staff at all levels and stages in their careers, and always uses a positive approach. His session was highly rated by our attendees. Whether you are looking to develop a targeted group of managers or to identify a learning opportunity that resonates across a large audience, Chick has the leadership skills, experience, and energy to create the right content that will align with your organization’s needs and goals."
Senior Vice President of Development
University of Chicago, Medicine & Biological Sciences Development -
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"Chick Herbert was without a doubt one of the best speakers and educators our retreat has ever had. Participants stated they could have listened to Chick over and over again and that the caliber of speaker he is inspired them to improve and take back wonderful ideas to use in their role as leaders."
Executive HR Leader, Healthcare
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"Chick is the real thing! When participants are messaging me in the middle of his presentation that they are loving how robust and applicable the content is...that's powerful! Chick worked to listen to the true needs of our audience ahead of time, encourage them to look introspective at their leadership style, and then with genuine compassion for their challenges, met them right where they were by offering actionable solutions and a new way to influence others. We're all looking for practical solutions to our personal leadership challenges...Chick delivers in a powerful way."
Vice President of Programs, American Marketing Association, Iowa Chapter
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"I had the opportunity to attend a remarkable session of the West Des Moines Leadership Academy led by Chick Herbert on the concept of Question-Centric Coaching. It was an eye-opening experience filled with valuable leadership insights that are not only relevant but essential for anyone looking to grow as a leader."
President & CEO, West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce
Chick’s Book
It begs the question
It Begs the Question is about dramatically improving team and personal performance, exerting less effort than you're investing today, and ensuring the sustainability of the improvements you make. Utilize the power of questions to develop the critical thinking skills of your team so they are less dependent on you as the manager. As a result of following the process and using the tools in this book, you will perform at a higher level, your organization will experience better results, and you will create additional time in your day to reinvest in those activities that make the most difference in performance.
Contact chick.herbert2@gmail.com for bulk orders
