John Wood

Today’s world faces an unprecedented crisis of leadership. From financial institutions to governments, faith in our leaders is at historic lows. At the same time a “war for talent” rages, with the most visionary and inspiring leaders building the best teams.

In this ever-changing environment, it isn’t enough to simply try harder or double down – we must rethink what it means to be a leader entirely.

Eager to implement his own vision at age 35, John Wood left an executive career track at Microsoft to build a global movement. Having lost the “formal authority that comes from a fancy title and position on the org chart,” he had to start over and become a new kind of leader. The result is one of the fastest-growing and impactful non-profits in history.

John talks candidly about his own evolution and the victories, mistakes and lessons learned along the way. He inspires audiences to think differently about what they can accomplish as leaders. From setting bold goals as a way to attract bold people, to the importance of humility and always crediting “the team rather than myself,” to his weekly “Thank a Thon,” John shares his insights on how he’s built a massive global team of 15,000 volunteers and over 1,000 employees from a “standing start and zero budget.”

John is often asked what lessons he has learned while building a global movement. In celebration of Room to Read reaching their 10 million student in 2015, John has written up an inspiring presentation with his personal “Top Ten” list. These are intended as lessons that any business can use to grow their size and impact. Some of the examples included: