Simon is an unshakeable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.
Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are, and end the day fulfilled by the work they do.
Simon is an unshakeable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.
Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are, and end the day fulfilled by the work they do.
A trained ethnographer, Simon is fascinated by the people and organizations that make the greatest and longest-lasting impact. Over the years, he has discovered some remarkable patterns about how they think, act, and communicate, and also the environments in which people operate at their natural best.
Simon may be best known for his TED Talk on the concept of WHY, which has been viewed over 60 million times, and his video on millennials in the workplace—which reached 80 million views in its first week and has gone on to be seen hundreds of millions of times.
He continues to share inspiration through his bestselling books, including global bestseller Start with WHY and New York Times bestsellers Leaders Eat Last and The Infinite Game, as well as his podcast, A Bit of Optimism. In addition, Simon is the founder of The Optimism Company, a leadership learning and development company, and he publishes other inspiring thinkers and doers through his publishing partnership with Penguin Random House called Optimism Press.
His unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention, and he has met with a broad array of leaders and organizations in nearly every industry. He frequently works with different branches of the US Armed Forces and agencies of the US government, and is an adjunct staff member with the RAND Corporation—one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world.
Simon is also active in the arts and with not-for-profit work, or what he likes to call the for-impact sector. In 2021, he founded The Curve: a diverse group of forward-thinking chiefs and sheriffs committed to reform modern policing from the inside-out. Their purpose is to build a profession dedicated to protecting the vulnerable from harm while advancing a vision of a world in which all people feel justice is administered with dignity, equity, and fairness.
Pretty great actually—thanks so much for asking! We hope you’re having a great day as well.
Simon is just one person with a BIG message, and with a message that big, he can’t do it alone. Simon has a very busy schedule, but he has selected and trained a roster of incredible Optimist Instructors to help teach his content and spread his vision of a bright future. If you are interested in bringing Simon’s lessons to your organization, feel free to contact our Experiences Team for speaking fees and availability.
While we wish we could clone Simon, science just isn’t quite there yet. That is why we’ve trained our Optimist Instructors to teach our classes. However, our two on-demand courses are taught by Simon—check out Find Your WHY and The Art of Presenting! He is also your guide for The Infinite Game Book Club.
With the craziness of Simon’s schedule, he does not have any plans to go on a tour in the near future. He is instead focusing his time and effort on furthering the Help Others Industry with some exciting projects to come!
Simon has always had an admiration for those who live a life of service, and Simon could argue that there is no career more committed to service than that of the military. He has worked very closely with many different branches of the military, learning from them the many ways one can become a leader. He often mentions the Navy SEALs when talking about the importance of trust in order to build a top performing team. Check out this video to learn more.
Simon argues that no matter what, there will be generational gaps and tension in the workplace. He talks about the skills both generations struggle with in this video.
One of Simon’s favorite quotes is by American businessman Herb Kelleher. The full quote is: “You don’t hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.”
For teams of 20+ contact us
Unleash Your Infinite Mindset
Buy Unleash Your Infinite Mindset and The Art of Building Fiercely Loyal Customers together for only $1,198.
For teams of 20+ contact us
The Art of Creating Fiercely Loyal Customers
Buy Unleash Your Infinite Mindset and The Art of Building Fiercely Loyal Customers together for only $1,198.
We fully agree, so we like to reward curiosity.
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A spark is something quite small and, by itself, not very powerful. But a spark has the ability to ignite. An idea is like a spark; alone it is just a set of words, but it too can ignite. A great idea can inspire others to dream bigger. Let us all work together to ignite something greater than ourselves.
Let us all be a Spark of Optimism.
