Keynotes · Workshops · Webinars
Speaking & Events
Executive sessions drawn from the research and frameworks in CEO Cadence — available as keynotes, half-day workshops, and live online webinars.
About the Speaker
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David Johnston
MBA, Leadership · Graduate Certificate, Executive Coaching · Certified Executive Coach (CEC) · Certified Health Executive (CHE), Canadian College of Health Leaders
David Johnston is an executive coach, leadership educator, and author whose work focuses on the psychological and internal dimensions of CEO leadership. His forthcoming book, CEO Cadence: The Inner Work of Becoming a Cadence-Based Leader, explores what sits beneath strategy and execution — the structural isolation, the weight of non-delegable decisions, and the internal discipline required to lead with clarity under sustained pressure.
Over more than two decades, he has worked across healthcare, utilities, manufacturing, and other sectors in both senior leadership and executive coaching roles.
He teaches leadership and coaching principles and delivers workshops to organizations. He works with a small number of CEOs and senior executives through his practice, Human Capital Development Inc.
Session Formats
Three ways to bring this content to your audience — keynote, workshop, or webinar.
Keynote
The CEO and Isolation: The Hidden Psychology of Executive Leadership
Isolation is one of the most defining and least discussed realities of the CEO role. It does not arrive suddenly. It emerges gradually — as honesty becomes filtered, relationships shift with authority, and the leader finds they can no longer speak as freely as they once did. This keynote names what most CEOs already experience but rarely hear described: the structural loneliness of the role, the psychological mechanisms that deepen it, and the internal practices that allow leaders to remain effective, connected, and whole within it.
Drawing on research in leadership psychology, emotional labor, and executive development, this session gives CEOs language for the inner experience of their role — and a framework for approaching isolation with intention rather than avoidance.
Workshop / Half-Day
Leading From Inside the Isolation: A Practitioner Workshop for CEOs
A deeper working session built on the same research and frameworks as the keynote, designed for smaller groups of senior leaders. Participants move from recognition — naming the experience — through reflection, to the construction of a personal leadership practice that addresses isolation deliberately rather than accidentally.
The workshop is structured around the six dimensions of CEO isolation explored in CEO Cadence: the shift in honesty, relational distance, the non-delegable decision, emotional labour, identity compression, and the restoration of presence. Each section includes facilitated reflection, peer exchange, and a practical application exercise.
Virtual Webinar
The CEO and Isolation — A Live Online Session
The core research and frameworks from the keynote, delivered in a live 90-minute online format with time for structured Q&A. Designed for professional associations, peer networks, and organizations that want to bring the conversation to members who are geographically dispersed.
Upcoming Events — CEO & Executive Audiences
No sessions currently scheduled.
Keynote & Workshop Sessions — 2026
New public sessions are being scheduled. Register your interest below and you'll be the first to know when dates are confirmed.
Register Your Interest →For Executive Coaches
Professional development sessions for coaches working with CEOs and senior executives.
Coach Workshop
When Your Client Lives Behind Glass: Coaching CEOs Through Structural Isolation
Structural isolation is one of the most defining — and most misread — dynamics in CEO coaching engagements. Coaches who don't understand what isolation actually is at the executive level risk misattributing it to personality, leadership style, or relational failure. This workshop gives coaches a research-grounded framework for recognizing, naming, and working with isolation as a structural condition — not a personal deficiency.
Drawing directly from Chapter 10 of CEO Cadence, the session covers the six mechanisms through which isolation develops across a CEO tenure, the coaching implications of each, and the specific interventions that move the work forward. Participants examine real patterns from coaching practice and leave with a concrete addition to their executive coaching toolkit.
Be notified when the next session is scheduled.
Upcoming Events — Executive Coaches
Professional development sessions for coaches.
When Your Client Lives Behind Glass: Coaching CEOs Through Structural Isolation
A structured professional development session for executive coaches. The session moves through five phases: a grounding introduction to structural isolation as a coaching concept; a presentation of the research and the six isolation mechanisms from CEO Cadence; a facilitated share of common findings from coaching practice; small-group breakouts (pairs or triads) working two structured reflection prompts; and a full-group debrief that integrates the learning before close.
Intended for: Executive coaches and coaches working with senior leaders. Registration fee to be confirmed.
Register InterestRoyal Roads University
Certified Health Executive, CCHL
Executive coaching, 20+ years
Available April 2026
Speaking Inquiries
To discuss keynote or workshop opportunities, speaker fees, and availability for your event, reach out directly.
Send a Speaking Inquirydavid@ceocadence.com · ceocadence.com