About Chris
I’ve built. Burned out. Come back clearer.
Letting go didn’t make me lose my edge. It made me lose the bullshit. What followed became my work.
I didn’t end up here because leadership came easily.
Or because life lined up neatly.
I ended up here because somewhere along the way, doing it “right” stopped feeling right.
I led companies. I built teams. I achieved what I was supposed to achieve.
And somewhere underneath it all, I could feel it: a slow drift.
Away from myself.
Away from my family.
Away from what actually mattered.
The outside didn’t show it.
But inside, the signals were impossible to ignore.
The pressure that once fueled me turned hollow.
The goals that once drove me started feeling smaller.
The victories started costing too much.
I burned out.
I recalibrated.
I came back to myself—and then forgot again.
Again and again, until forgetting stopped working.
That’s what built Unlead.
Not a vision. Not a brand strategy.
A series of necessary returns.
Unlead is the work I had to do (and still do) to lead without losing myself.
If you’re here, maybe you’re feeling that shift too.
The quiet sense that the old way won’t get you where you’re meant to go next.
You’re not lost.
You’re not failing.
You’re being called back to your Self.
The real story
Need the official version?
Chris McCann is an executive mentor, leadership recalibrator, and founder of Unlead, a platform helping high-performing leaders move from performance to presence.
With two decades in enterprise sales and leadership roles, Chris has helped scale startups, close multimillion-dollar deals, and build teams that actually work.
His approach blends strategic clarity with deep inner work, guiding founders, executives, and creatives through inflection points, transitions, and the moments when the old playbook stops working.
He lives in Santa Monica with his wife and works with clients worldwide.
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