We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christian F Johnson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christian F below.
Christian F, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I didn’t find my purpose at the top of success—I found it in the silence after I lost something I thought I needed.
For 10 years, I had been speaking, coaching, creating… doing what looked good, sounded good, and honestly felt productive. But I was still operating from a place of mimicry and masked messaging. I had mastered performance—but lost presence.
Everything shifted on what I now call my March 2nd Awakening. After finishing a talk, someone I’ll call “Bobby” approached me and said something that stopped me cold:
“It was hard to listen to you… because it didn’t sound like you anymore.”
It was like I was speaking but still silent.
That moment became the title of my latest book.
The truth was… I had lost my voice—both literally and spiritually. That conversation made me realize I wasn’t supposed to echo what I’d been taught. I had developed an unhealthy reliance on the voices and leaders I looked up to—so much so that I shaped my message around their approval instead of God’s assignment for me.
But through prayer and reflection, I remembered: I wasn’t called to mimic. I was born to embody what I carry.
Purpose was something I chased. But the more I searched, the more it slipped away—because purpose isn’t found in striving. It’s revealed through surrender. It lovingly interrupted my flow and reintroduced me to the deeper calling that had always been there.
I uncovered my purpose by destroying distractions, realigning with God, and finally listening to my Inner Tugging—that divine pull within.
Now, I help high-achieving, spiritually-minded leaders—especially Black and Brown men—do the same. Not by adding more to their plate, but by helping them return to who they truly are.
Because when your presence becomes your product, your life stops being a performance—and starts becoming a platform for purpose.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m Christian F. Johnson—Presence-Centered Leadership Coach, speaker, and best-selling author. I help spiritually-minded, high-achieving leaders—especially Black and Brown men—destroy distractions, align with God, and fortify their focus so they can lead from their divine center without losing themselves to the pressure to perform.
What makes this work special isn’t just what I teach—it’s how I live it. After years of doing all the “right things” externally, I had an awakening that revealed how misaligned I was internally. That moment became the seed of what is now called The Presence-Centered Path™.
A spiritual leadership framework for high-achieving male leaders to destroy distractions, align with God, and fortify their focus.
The Presence-Centered Path™ unfolds in three phases:
1. The R.I.N.S.E. Method™
Purpose: Destroy Distractions
A 5-step spiritual recalibration to break free from mimicry, masked messaging, and misalignment.
2. The 7 L’s of Alignment™
Purpose: Align with God
A Presence-Centered map to live, love, lead, and speak from divine presence.
3. The FORTIFY Flow™
Purpose: Fortify Your Focus
A 7-step morning activation designed to strengthen focus, center your spirit, and support presence-led action.
Whether I’m coaching 1-on-1 or speaking to hundreds, the mission remains the same: to help people stop performing and start embodying the truth of who they are.
My clients don’t need more productivity hacks—they need presence. They don’t need more advice—they need alignment. They need space to hear what God is already saying within.
What excites me most is witnessing the shift—that sacred moment when a high-achiever stops chasing purpose and starts living from it with peace. There’s nothing like seeing a leader breathe again, speak again, and live again—fully aligned, fully free.
Right now, I’m focused on expanding The Presence-Centered Path™ through coaching intensives, retreats, masterminds, and keynote experiences. I also recently released my best-selling book, When You’re Speaking, But Still Silent, which walks readers through reclaiming their voice in a world that rewards performance over presence.
And I just launched a free diagnostic tool called The Distraction Diagnostic™—a self-assessment designed to help leaders identify the internal and external distractions sabotaging their focus, clarity, and divine assignment.
So whether it’s through a stage, a session, or a sentence—I’m here to help leaders rise, not just in influence, but in alignment with God.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three Most Important Qualities, Skills, or Areas of Knowledge
1. Active Listening
Early in my journey, I thought leadership was about having the answers. But I’ve learned that listening—really listening—is more powerful than speaking. Not just listening to others, but listening to God… and to myself.
Advice: Slow down enough to hear. Practice listening without rushing to respond. The more you listen, the more you’ll discern what’s really being said—within and around you.
2. Transparency
For years, I performed through pain. I showed up strong but stayed silent. Embracing transparency didn’t make me weaker—it made me more impactful. People don’t need your perfection; they need your presence.
Advice: Don’t be afraid to let people see the process, not just the product. Your vulnerability might be someone else’s permission to heal.
3. Looking Within and Aligning With What’s Already There
My turning point came when I realized I wasn’t missing anything—I was just misaligned. Purpose, clarity, peace… it was already within me. I just had to stop striving and start aligning with the God in me.
Advice: Stop searching for what you already carry. Get still. Get honest. And learn to trust the divine voice within. That’s where your power is.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed, I return to my center. I pause—not to quit, but to listen. I’ve learned that overwhelm isn’t always a sign that I’m doing too much… sometimes it’s a sign that I’m doing the right things from the wrong posture.
That’s when I activate what I call the FORTIFY Flow™—a 7-step Presence-Centered Morning Rhythm that helps me destroy distractions, align with God, and fortify my focus for the day ahead.
You can do this anywhere, but for me, I love to get on my treadmill in the morning and do what I call “walking in the Spirit.” I put on some instrumental soaking music, pray, meditate, reflect, and then walk through the following process.
Each letter in FORTIFY is an intentional step:
F – Feel the Gratitude
O – Open Awareness
R – Reflect, Realign & Release
T – Tune In (to God, Spirit, and Self)
I – Ingest the Word
F – Fortify Your Intention
Y – Yield & Execute
It’s not about hustling harder—it’s about starting from alignment, not anxiety.
My advice:
Don’t push through overwhelm with pressure. Pause with presence.Breathe. Ask, “What can I release? What’s truly mine to carry today?”And always remember—your value isn’t in your output. It’s in your alignment.
Overwhelm loses its grip when you return to who you are and Whose you are.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://iamchristianfjohnson.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamchristianfjohnson
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CFJpodcast
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