John Lentini

John J. Lentini has spent his career learning what leadership looks like when the ground gives way. He survived the September 11th attacks at the foot of the tower, a plane passing over his head and into his desk. He navigated the financial crisis after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. He led a regional team through the Fukushima disaster in Tokyo. And after leaving corporate life, he built BOLD Training Corp through the dark days of COVID.

Those years shaped his signature topic, Character Under Pressure, and the framework behind it. His 2025 TEDx Talk, "Three Dials to Lead You," has surpassed 275,000 views and introduced audiences worldwide to the first three of his Six Dials, a model that defines the building blocks of character-driven leadership. His upcoming book, Engineering Character: Six Dials to Build Better Leaders (Forefront Books, July 2027), distills more than 20 years as a senior executive at some of the world's largest investment banks into a framework any leader can apply, regardless of title, industry, or tenure.

A black belt in taekwondo, an avid scuba diver, and a traveler who has visited over 60 countries across all seven continents, John brings the perspective of someone who has worked across wildly different cultures, contexts, and challenges into every room he speaks in.

John holds an MBA from the University of Connecticut and a BS in Finance from Fairfield University. He has delivered commencement addresses and spoken to audiences ranging from emerging managers to HR and C-suite executives.