He’s been called the world’s number one CEO coach, with a client list that includes Richard Branson and Steve Jobs. What fewer people know is that Mark Thompson struggled all the way through school, with a learning and eyesight difficulty that made traditional education hard, and it took him years to understand why that mattered.

Mark has coached the CEOs and founders of Pinterest, Lyft, Fitbit and Waymo, led more than a hundred board-level succession engagements, and in 2023 became the first coach inducted into the Thinkers50 Coaching Hall of Fame. His most recent book, CEO Ready, tackles the thing nobody talks about: how you actually get the top job, and how you survive it once you have.

In this conversation, Mark takes me from the fruit orchards that became Silicon Valley, to the discovery that reshaped his life, when he realised the things that held him back in school had become his superpower. We talk about the shock of becoming a CEO for the first time and getting it badly wrong, why he treats the role as a privilege to be earned, and why he spends the first two chapters of his book trying to talk you out of the job entirely. We also get to what it really takes to lead in a world where the S&P 500 now churns in weeks rather than decades.

A conversation about readiness, resilience, and the humility to know that nobody gets anything worthwhile done alone.

The Unlock Moment is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — master interviewer, executive coach and author. Downloaded in over 140 countries. Sign up to The Unlock Moment newsletter at https://tinyurl.com/ywhdaazp Find out more at https://garycrotaz.com and https://theunlockmoment.com Also discover his other podcasts, The Box of Keys and Unlock Your Leadership. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.