PHOENIX, Ariz. - October 20, 2026 - According to leaders who transformed the pain of their past, the next era of leadership may depend less on polished communication and more on knowing what you actually stand for. At a moment when artificial intelligence can execute a leadership message in seconds, sounding unmistakably like yourself is not as easy. Recently, six accomplished leaders completed an executive experience created by Joanna Horton McPherson, a leader and voice for healed leadership.
John W. Hardy, Steve Miksta, Michelle Rutkowski, Thomas McPherson, DeAnna DuPree and Sara Johnson took the stage after developing signature messages drawn from personal insight and the deeper meaning behind their distinct professional work.
These leaders completed training in the True Influence Method™, a mastery-based skill-building program designed to help leaders gain their voice and demonstrate a different model of leadership communication. Each unlocked a message arising from insight into their lived experience, finding personal truth and a point of view strong enough for others to follow.
McPherson's larger argument is that authenticity is not the opposite of executive rigor. It is increasingly a prerequisite for trust.
At the conclusion of their training, McPherson brings together founders, executives, advisors, investors and influential leaders for Speak & Rise, an evening of executive talks, live conversation and intentionally curated connection. The event's philosophy is simple: leadership communication is not merely speaking well. It is knowing what you stand for, articulating it clearly and giving other people something they can follow.
Redefining Leadership as Authentic Authority
Steve Miksta, founder and CEO of Oppty, drew on his adult diagnosis of Asperger's to recognize that his perspective, like everyone else's, could be true without being complete, an insight that now drives his work helping organizations bring people's perspectives together so they can agree on what matters, define success and give AI clear direction to help them achieve it. More at opptyunlimited.com
Michelle Opal Rutkowski shares her journey of discovering the design of addiction and how understanding the biological reward system can help people move away from modern hijacks and toward patterns that help them thrive. As founder and principal architect of MOR Studio, she has built her career on the belief that thoughtful design can meaningfully shape human health and experience. A recognized Arizona business leader, she now leads MOR Thriving and My Dopamine Blueprint, working to transform addiction's global narrative and bring science-backed alcohol-use treatment into primary care. More at mydopamineblueprint.com.
John W. Hardy faced a question many men struggle to voice: Who am I when the roles that once defined me fall away? Confronting his struggles with alcohol, identity and the emotional weight of divorce meant more than leaving an unhealthy chapter behind; it meant learning how to rebuild his life from within. That experience became the foundation of a new purpose: helping men navigate divorce, toxic relationships and major life transitions while reconnecting with their identity, confidence and self-worth. Now a certified divorce coach, professional speaker, podcast guest and published author of an international bestseller, Hardy brings lived experience and hard-earned perspective to his work. His message is clear: asking for help takes courage, and acknowledging pain is part of healing. Through his story and coaching, he helps men develop the clarity, boundaries and purpose to move forward, and to recognize that the end of one chapter does not have to define the rest of their lives. More at johnwhardy.com.
The Fabulous DeAnna DuPree is an author, executive presence strategist and personal brand architect whose work evolved from image consulting into a broader, faith-based exploration of visibility, positioning and power. She recognizes that what she lived through, including the feeling that she wasn't enough, formed her strength to own her unique value as a woman who won't shrink. Her work now challenges women to become visible without separating their professional authority from their values, faith and identity through her quarterly Crowned & Called Cohort. More at DeannaDupree .com
Sara Johnson is bringing people into a new standard of leadership by showing that meaningful external change begins with the willingness to examine what is happening internally. A former government and nonprofit executive, appellate attorney and data strategist, Johnson spent years working inside systems designed to improve workforce outcomes before recognizing that changing systems and changing people are deeply connected. Through Frances Strategies, she now brings those worlds together, helping leaders move beyond urgency, external expectations and performed certainty to make decisions from what she calls their inner authority. Her work is rooted in the belief that transformation can happen simultaneously within a person, an organization and a system, and that leaders who develop the clarity to change their own relationship with work can ultimately change the systems in which others work, too. More at frances-strategies.com.
Thomas McPherson is bringing people into a new standard of leadership by connecting the discipline of protecting people with the responsibility of building systems that serve them. He shares experiences from his service as a U.S. Navy Fleet Marine Force Corpsman and what they taught him about his role in the greater good. He went on to build a career in real estate and investment, ultimately developing communities and award-winning sustainable buildings designed around environmental problem-solving and community. Learn more at ThomasMarshallMcPherson.com.
From Lived Experience to a Voice Others Follow
The True Influence Method™ helps accomplished leaders turn their lived experience into a distinct message, public voice and point of view others can follow.
A personal story becomes useful to leadership when the leader can identify what their experiences taught them about a problem others are facing. McPherson's method begins by creating safety and trust, so leaders can uncover the doubts and patterns that have shaped them beneath the surface. Rather than starting with how others will perceive them, she asks: "What are you here to say?" That insight is then developed into talks, messaging, public positioning and visible leadership with their team.
"At some point, every leader has to make the transition from communicating what they know to communicating what they see," McPherson said. "That is when expertise becomes a voice. And a voice is what gives other people something they can actually follow."
McPherson calls the result authentic authority. "We aren't trying to sound impressive; we are uncovering what is already true in them that speaks to their audience's needs. This way, they no longer need to perform authority. They come from it."
Hardy said of studying with McPherson: "I came to find my voice. I was stuck because I didn't trust what I was feeling. Joanna helped me feel comfortable with my message and emotion. I truly found my voice. I am like a different person than I was coming in."
The timing matters. Gallup found that only 20% of U.S. employees trust the leadership of their organization. "At a time when AI executes our tasks, our tech cannot set meaning and intention without our human input," McPherson said. "Humans matter more than ever."
About Joanna Horton McPherson
Joanna Horton McPherson is a private advisor, master coach and founder of the True Influence Method™, a healed leadership methodology that helps accomplished leaders convert lived experience into a distinct message, public voice and body of thought others can recognize and follow.
Harvard-trained and a six-time founder, McPherson architects transformative learning spaces at the intersection of leadership, story, presence and influence, helping leaders move from performing expertise to authentic authority that leaves a lasting impact.
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