Nicholas Janni
Nicholas Janni is a leadership development practitioner, coach and author who works with senior leaders and organisations on leadership presence and transformational leadership in executive and corporate contexts.
- Author of Leader as Healer, published by LID Publishing and winner of Business Book of the Year at the 2023 Business Book Awards, including Leadership Book of the Year.
- Visiting Professor of Leadership at IMD Business School, contributing to executive learning and leadership programmes.
- Founder of CORE PRESENCE, a leadership development consultancy.
- Co-founder of Olivier Mythodrama, an arts-based leadership development consultancy.
- Background in theatre direction and acting, including teaching acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Full Profile
Key speaking topics
- Leadership presence
- Transformational leadership
- Executive development
- Peak performance in leadership
- Arts-based approaches to leadership development
- Leadership and personal development
Ideal for
- Senior leaders and executive teams
- Board-level and C-suite audiences
- Organisations investing in leadership development programmes
- Corporate and public-sector leadership events
Audience outcomes
- Greater understanding of leadership presence and its impact on performance
- Practical perspectives on transformational leadership
- Insight into integrating personal development with executive responsibility
- New approaches to leadership drawn from performance and arts-based disciplines
Why organisations work with Nicholas Janni
- Combines authorship, executive education and consultancy experience.
- Brings cross-sector leadership development experience in corporate and public-sector contexts.
- Connects leadership theory with applied executive practice.
- Offers a perspective shaped by both business education and professional theatre training.
Biography
Nicholas Janni works at the intersection of leadership development, executive presence and organisational transformation. His work is designed for senior leaders and boards seeking to strengthen the human dimension of leadership in complex corporate environments.
He is the author of Leader as Healer, published by LID Publishing, which won Business Book of the Year at the 2023 Business Book Awards, including Leadership Book of the Year. The book sets out his approach to leadership presence, responsibility and the inner capacities required for effective executive performance.
Janni serves as a Visiting Professor of Leadership at IMD Business School, contributing to executive learning journeys and leadership programmes. His work in executive education connects personal development with organisational impact, supporting leaders in translating insight into practice.
He founded CORE PRESENCE, his leadership development consultancy, and previously co-founded Olivier Mythodrama, an arts-based leadership development firm. This combination of consultancy and executive education experience underpins his practical, applied approach to leadership growth.
Before focusing fully on leadership development, Janni worked in theatre direction and taught acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. This background informs his distinctive perspective on presence, performance under pressure and the embodied aspects of leadership in high-stakes environments.
Talks
An exploration of multi-level presence and the integration of Being and Doing, focused on embodiment, expanded perception and deeper connection to self and world.
Key takeaways:
- Understanding multi-level presence and the integration of Being and Doing
- Expanding perceptual bandwidth and listening capacity
- Deepening connection to self, world and life purpose
A practical examination of the creativity cycle and the conditions required to support innovation at both individual and group levels.
Key takeaways:
- Understanding the creativity cycle and the emergence of new ideas
- Building receptivity and tolerating periods of unknowing
- Distinguishing when to gestate and when to act to access higher levels of intelligence
A reframing of emotional intelligence that examines the full emotional composition of the human being and the role of regulation and relational safety.
Key takeaways:
- Reconsidering positive and negative emotion and their functions
- Understanding emotional regulation and the impact of suppressed emotion
- Creating safe, precise relational spaces that enable authentic experience
An introduction to mindfulness and meditation, including their foundations, applications and integration into daily practice.
Key takeaways:
- Understanding what mindfulness is and why it has become widespread
- Building a sustainable daily meditation practice
- Applying simple transformational tools throughout the day
A framework for developing team presence, connection and alignment to support authentic communication and innovation.
Key takeaways:
- Creating connection, energy and alignment with values and purpose
- Establishing safety to enable authentic communication
- Strengthening team innovation capacity
An exploration of trauma at individual and societal levels and the practices that support restoration and integration.
Key takeaways:
- Understanding the nature and societal effects of unintegrated trauma
- Restoring individual and collective nervous systems
- Developing group capacity to engage with difficult experiences through spiritual practice