John Thompson: Presence as a Leadership Skill

What if leadership isn’t mainly about strategy or influence, but the quality of connection we bring to each moment — and to each other?

John Thompson spends his time helping leaders reconnect with themselves, with the people around them, and with what’s actually happening in the present. Through his work at Transformational Connection, he’s supporting a different kind of leadership: one that’s rooted in presence, emotional depth, and what he calls “relational intelligence” — the capacity to stay open, responsive, and human in the space between people.

In this episode, we explore John’s path from high-performance sport into humanitarian work, and how those experiences shaped his view of leadership as something built on awareness, trust, and real relationship.