Let’s be honest.
Thanksgiving week shows up, and most leaders do the same thing:
- Fire off a “thank you for all you do” email
- Post something about gratitude on social
- Try to squeeze rest into the tiny spaces between meetings, travel, and family
Meanwhile, your team?
They’re tired. You’re tired.
Everyone’s quietly running on fumes, hoping they can just make it to the end of the year.
So here’s a question that cuts through all the noise:
“How do I want to show up for people this week?”
Not “What do I have to get done?”
Not “How do I keep everything from falling apart?”
Just this:
How do I want people to experience me this week?
That’s where leadership presence comes in—one of the core pillars in my Lead with Soul framework.
And once you really get this, it changes everything.
Your team doesn’t need a perfect version of you; they need a present version of you.
Your Leadership Presence Is Talking Before You Ever Open Your Mouth
Think about the last time you were with someone who was clearly not there.
They said, “I’m listening.”
They nodded.
They maybe even repeated your words back to you…
…but you could feel it.
They were already in the next meeting, the next crisis, the next email.
Now flip it.
Think about the last time someone was really with you.
They weren’t scrolling.
They weren’t glancing at the clock.
They were locked in—eye contact, breathing with you, staying in the moment even when it got uncomfortable.
Same relationship status, same conversation topic, maybe even similar words…
But your nervous system knew the difference.
That’s leadership presence.
- It shows up in your face before it shows up in your words.
- It lives in your tone and your pace.
- And it gets tested most when things are hard—when someone on your team is overwhelmed, scared, or done pretending they’re fine.
Here’s the part leaders underestimate:
Your people are not just reacting to your decisions.
They’re reacting to who you are in the room when things get real.
Why Your Presence Falls Apart When You’re Burned Out
By November, most leaders are cooked.
The calendar has been stacked for months.
Every “one-time exception” turned into standard operating procedure.
Sleep, movement, and reflection got traded for “just one more thing.”
I’ve seen this play out again and again with driven, well-intentioned leaders. They walk into a year-end meeting ready to push the agenda forward, but their attention is split between the room, the inbox, and the next crisis. They’re technically present—but their presence isn’t.
Here’s what that does to your leadership presence:
- You stop listening and start fixing.
- You move faster, talk more, ask fewer questions.
- You’re physically in the room, but emotionally and mentally somewhere else.
That doesn’t make you a bad leader.
It makes you human.
But here’s the truth most people tiptoe around:
When you’re leading on fumes, your presence tells on you.
Your team feels it.
Your partner feels it.
Your kids feel it.
You don’t have to be perfect.
But you do have to be honest with yourself about the impact of leading past your limits.
The good news?
Leadership presence is not all-or-nothing. You can start shifting it this week, in tiny, practical ways.
The Lead with Soul Presence Toolkit
I think of these as three simple tools inside the Lead with Soul Presence Toolkit:
- The 60-Second Arrival
- One Brave Question
- Specific Gratitude
You don’t need a retreat. You don’t need a week off-grid.
You just need to practice these on purpose.
1. The 60-Second Arrival
Before you walk into a meeting, pick up the phone, or sit at the Thanksgiving table:
- Put your phone down. Face down. Out of reach.
- Take three slow, intentional breaths.
- Ask yourself:“How do I want to show up in this next conversation?”
- Pick one word: calm, honest, curious, clear, kind, steady, grateful…
That’s it. Sixty seconds.
You’re training your brain to shift from autopilot to choice.
You’re saying:
“I’m not just reacting to my day. I’m deciding the presence I bring into it.”
That’s leadership.
2. One Brave Question
Most leaders are great at talking.
The real shift in leadership presence happens when you create space instead of filling it.
At work, try one of these:
- “What’s something you’re carrying right now that I might be missing?”
- “What would make the rest of this year feel more sustainable for you?”
- “Is there anything you’ve been holding back that I need to hear?”
At home:
- “What are you most proud of yourself for this year?”
- “What’s one thing you wish we did differently next year?”
Here’s the rule:
Once you ask, stop talking.
No fixing.
No defending.
No jumping in with a story about yourself.
Just stay.
Breathe.
Listen all the way to the end.
Leadership presence starts when you care more about what they’re carrying than about what you’re about to say.
3. Specific Gratitude
Generic gratitude sounds nice.
Specific gratitude lands.
Instead of:
“Thanks for all you do.”
Try:
“I’m grateful for how you kept showing up for that client when the project got messy.”
“Thank you for telling me the uncomfortable truth in that meeting. That took courage.”
“I’m grateful for the way you’ve held things together at home while my work has been intense.”
You’re not just throwing “thanks” at people.
You’re naming what they did, what it cost, and why it matters.
Gratitude isn’t what you post on LinkedIn; it’s how people feel after a meeting with you.
That’s how leadership presence and gratitude link up.
It goes from a seasonal gesture to a real moment of connection.
The Hidden Cost of Being Only Half There
Let’s talk about what happens when Presence disappears.
Your team may not call you out.
They may not send a survey response that says, “My leader is emotionally absent.”
They’ll do this instead:
- Share less.
- Bring you problems later—when they’re bigger and messier.
- Do the work, but without heart, creativity, or ownership.
At home, the same pattern shows up.
Conversations get shorter.
People stop bringing you their real life.
Holidays become performance instead of connection.
Leadership presence won’t fix everything.
But without it?
Even your best intentions don’t fully land.
Emails don’t remember you. People do.
Your Thanksgiving Week Challenge: Pick One Person
Let’s make this simple.
Don’t try to overhaul your entire life this week.
Do this instead:
Pick one person who needs your full presence.
- A team member who’s been quiet.
- Someone carrying a load nobody sees.
- A partner who’s been on the receiving end of your exhaustion.
- A family member who never wants to “cause trouble.”
Then choose one moment—one conversation, one walk, one call—and show up all the way.
No phone.
No multitasking.
No rushing.
Just you, present.
When they think back on this Thanksgiving season, they won’t remember your out-of-office message.
They’ll remember the moment you were actually there with them.
Bringing Leadership Presence into Your 2025–2026 Events and Offsites
This isn’t just a nice Thanksgiving idea.
Leadership presence is one of the core pillars inside my keynote:
“Lead with Soul: How to Lead When You’re Running on Fumes.”
When I work with organizations through PatrickDunnIntl.com, we don’t just talk about burnout in theory. We design keynotes and workshops that help your leaders:
- Arrive grounded to high-stakes conversations
- Listen in a way that calms the room instead of escalating it
- Rebuild trust in teams that have been running hot for too long
If you’re planning 2025–2026 leadership events, offsites, or summits and you know your leaders are stretched thin—but you still need them to lead with clarity and heart—this is the work I love to do.
You can book a 30-minute call with me to talk through your goals and see if this keynote or a custom workshop is a fit.
And if you want regular nudges like this:
Follow me for weekly leadership prompts and story-led takeaways.
Your team will never use this language, but I’ll say it for them:
They are not just grateful for what you do.
They’re grateful for who you are when you’re with them.
This Thanksgiving week is your chance to lead like you believe that.