The Leadership Pause

Sharpen Your Attention, Deepen Your Presence and Navigate the Future


Book Dr. Chris
logo_alliantlogo_capstratlogo_cfmclogo_corbionlogo_feeding_americalogo_global-wisdomlogo_hpllogo_ilalogo_itasca_banklogo_landolakeslogo_loyolalogo_macarthurlogo_mortonlogo_northwesternlogo_omronlogo_rushlogo_tuthilllogo_usfoodslogo_xerox
logo_alliantlogo_capstratlogo_cfmclogo_corbionlogo_feeding_americalogo_global-wisdomlogo_hpllogo_ilalogo_itasca_banklogo_landolakeslogo_loyolalogo_macarthurlogo_mortonlogo_northwesternlogo_omronlogo_rushlogo_tuthilllogo_usfoodslogo_xerox

Embodied Learning. A radical new way of learning that results in a pragmatic perspective shift.

It’s remarkable, revealing, and not to be over-the-top, it’s revolutionary.

 Most Requested Keynotes

Breakthrough Conversations

Are You Willing to Go First?

Transform surface-level interactions into moments that unlock creative solutions, strengthen relationships, and elevate your leadership impact.

Participants will be able to:
  • Initiate High-Stakes Conversations
  • Navigate Challenging Dialogue Skillfully
  • Turn Conflict into Breakthroughs

Download Abstract

The Leadership Pause

Sharpen Your Attention, Deepen Your Presence, and Navigate the Future

Transform reactive leadership into conscious response to navigate uncertainty. Develop the capacity to transform pressure into opportunity and create sustainable change that lasts.

Participants will be able to:
  • Build Your Leadership Pause Practice
  • Strengthen Attention Under Pressure
  • Convert Stress into Strategic Advantage

Download Abstract

Thrive In Uncertain Times

The Key to Resilient Leadership

Transform uncertainty into strategic advantage—recognize triggers, regulate your nervous system, and lead authentically. Build resilience that explodes performance.

Participants will be able to:
  • Regulate Under Pressure
  • Create Strategic Pauses
  • Build Conscious, Resilient Leadership Capacity

Download Abstract

Book Dr. Chris

Interactive Workshops

Cultivating Presence and Power

Replace sticky energy of busyness with centered effectiveness. Transform fragmented teams into unified forces to navigate complexity with wisdom and power.

Participants will:
  • See What Others Miss
  • Break the Busyness Trap
  • Unlock the Wisdom in the Room

Download Abstract

You Are What You Say

Feedback Mastery

Effective feedback isn’t about being nice or harsh—it’s about precision. Power lives in intentional, common language.

Participants will:
  • Practice Precision Feedback
  • Reclaim Their Voice
  • Create Trust & Alignment

Download Abstract

Transform DramaSkills for Success

Trapped in reactive drama cycles that drain energy, we find ourselves stuck. Learn to consciously shift from reacting to choosing empowered responses to lead effectively.

Participants will:
  • Lead with Clarity in a World of Reactivity
  • Interrupt Reactive Cycles
  • Lead Themselves, Then Others

Download Abstract

Book Dr. Chris

Dr. Chris Johnson, PsydI’m Dr. Chris Johnson, a speaker, psychologist, and leadership catalyst who helps professionals and executives upgrade their most powerful tool—their own presence.

For more than two decades, I’ve worked with leaders, teams, and organizations who are ready to step into a new kind of learning: embodied learning—the integration of mind, body, and purpose that transforms how we lead, connect, and live.

I’ve facilitated profound growth for hundreds of leaders across industries, guiding them to move beyond limiting beliefs, burnout, and habitual patterns—and into greater clarity, courage, and authentic impact.

Through powerful storytelling, straight talk and humor, and embodied practices, I create experiences that don’t just inspire—they shift how people show up.

My sessions invite professionals to:

  • Step out of overwhelm and old patterns, and into mindful, grounded leadership.
  • Move out of conversational gridlock to communicate with authenticity and empathy, even in high-stakes moments.
  • Think clearly under pressure, transform stress into capacity, and create real change through conscious, embodied practice—not just theory.
  • Build relationships of depth, meaning, and action.
  • Lead and live with greater alignment, resilience, and purpose.

Audiences consistently describe my programs as transformative, energizing, and deeply human—the kind of learning that doesn’t end when they leave the room but continues to unfold in how they lead and live every day.

Chris’ approach isn’t traditional, but it’s grounded. Some on the leadership team members felt the discomfort of learning, yet it was through that shared experience that she helped us create a future rather than staying comfortable. Her dimension and depth are valuable to our company’s future growth.

Dave Mooney, CEO, Alliant Credit Union

During our office transition, as the leader, I wanted to be sure I was giving my team all the skills and tools I could to help them be successful. Chris led my team through practical, mindfulness based exercises for our Wellness and Safety Day. The benefits were so valuable that we brought her back to share her mindfulness-based approach with our entire corporate offices.

Betsey Nohe, CPIM VP Supply Chain, Morton Salt

Dr. Chris delivered a powerful message on emotional agility and resilient leadership to our Executive Director Roundtable. Her Resilience Power Up framework gave leaders concrete tools to lead their teams with clarity, integrity and purpose during these uncertain times.

Emily Weber, Senior Director of Programs & Community Investment, Lake County Community Foundation

Dr Chris’ presentation, Beyond Profits: How Conscious Engagement Transforms Business and Society with a recent cohort of manufacturers was relevant, engaging, fact-based, and applicable. Everyone in the room stayed engaged with Dr. Chris from the first moment until the last. I appreciate her teaching the participants that they can really have it all… profit, engagement, and purpose

Melissa Basa, Regional Manager, Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center

Chris’ presentation on “Dealing with Life’s Uncertainty” at our Women’s Leadership Summit was excellent. Her tone, humor and engaging method made our business women feel they weren’t alone in facing tender concerns like loss, illness and family challenges. It’s a tribute to Chris’ presence, even in a large group.

Diane Middlebrooks, Women’s Initiative Coordinator, Itasca Bank & Trust

More About Chris

Chris in the board room

Imagine leading and living with clarity, confidence, and calm—your energy focused on what truly matters, your presence inspiring others to do the same.

That’s what I help leaders do.

I’m Dr. Chris Johnson, and at heart, I’m a disruptor with purpose—challenging outdated models of success and helping leaders redefine what power and performance really look like. My sweet spot is supporting professional women, executives, and teams to perform under pressure, make aligned decisions, and lead with grounded presence—all by becoming more fully themselves.

Chris in the board room

As a speaker, leadership and business coach, I bring a rare combination of expertise and humanity. My background as a trauma psychologist, mindfulness educator, and aikidoka shapes everything I do. I’m known for creating instant trust with audiences—blending science, story, and humor to help people see themselves more clearly and lead more effectively.

Conference and event organizers describe my sessions as “transformational yet practical”—experiences that challenge people to think differently, feel deeply, and walk away with real tools to use the next day.

Chris in the board room

I’m not afraid to surface the hard stuff—the invisible patterns and stories that hold leaders back—because that’s where growth begins. My work helps people build an integrated life: where good decisions come from both body and mind, where purpose drives performance, and where leadership is felt, not forced..

I hold a PsyD from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and am certified as an Integral and Master Somatic Leadership Coach, drawing from ancient contemplative traditions and cutting-edge neuroscience to create practices that deliver measurable, lasting results.

When I’m not teaching or speaking, you’ll find me gardening, reading, making art, or hiking—all ways I practice what I teach: presence, connection, and joy in the moment.

Workshops & Keynotes

I partner with organizations to cultivate leaders who can think clearly under pressure, transform stress into capacity, and create real change through embodied practice—not just theory.

From 30-minute lunch-and-learns to full-day intensives to 10-month leadership journeys, every offering integrates mindful awareness and somatic intelligence. Leadership transformation doesn’t happen in your head alone—it happens when your whole being aligns with what matters most.

All programs are bespoke, tailored to your needs.

Dr. Chris speaking

Doing Power Differently™ Workshops

An experiential learning lab for professional women who want to reclaim their energy, increase their impact, and lead without burning out.

No quick fixes or manifesting tricks here. Instead, you’ll learn to tap into your body’s intelligence—the nervous system wisdom most leadership training ignores—to consciously cultivate your power in community.

Available Now

Your future success depends upon your ability to pause.

We’re all navigating new realities. The Leadership Pause is for anyone looking to deepen their impact on the lives around them, leave a profound mark on their organizations, and build a legacy of intentional focus, pragmatic ambition, grounded compassion, and empathy-in-action.

In it, you’ll find a step-by-step process to expand and amplify your influence as a conscious leader – mindful, embodied, generative – that will result in you skillfully navigating through the chaos and uncertainty.

  • 2023 National Indie Excellence Awards: Winner in Body/Mind/Spirit
  • 2023 National Indie Excellence Awards: Finalist in Leadership
The book