“Business success today is built on balancing empathy and economics. Executives and managers at every level must be able to make money, but do so in a way that puts people first in a way they were never trained to do.”
Award-winning CEO. Multi-exit entrepreneur. People leader. Platform builder. The person you call when the mandate is to grow faster, enhance the culture, and drive business results. Donald Thompson has built and scaled multiple companies to acquisition, led post-merger integration, and now builds repeatable performance systems as Managing Director of the Workplace Options Center for Organizational Effectiveness.
Donald ties leadership to bottom line results, creating a culture you can run, measure, and improve. He builds teams that are fast, focused, and resilient, then ties their habits to business objectives: greater revenue, stronger margins, higher customer loyalty, and lower turnover. He turns engagement into everyday practice with clear roles, manager standards, and a smart rhythm of goals and feedback, so people do their best work and the business moves quicker. In the AI era, his approach blends innovation and human-centered leadership: practical, repeatable, and ready for implementation today.
Credentials? EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, Forbes Next 1000, leadership recognized as 3x Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies. Donald is a trusted executive advisor to CEOs and growth operators, hosts the High Octane Leadership podcast, is the author of Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success and co-author of The Inclusive Leadership Handbook. His next book, Meaningful Work: How Psychological Safety and Employee Engagement Drive Business Results, published in 2026.
Why do executives turn to Donald? He doesn’t do business-as-usual. In the tech age, he keeps humans in the loop and results in focus, which turns big ideas into everyday habits. Donald collapses the distance between inspiration and execution by leading with clarity and purpose, resulting in smarter organizations and leadership ready to tackle tomorrow’s greatest challenges.
CURRENT ROLE: Managing Director, Center for Organizational Effectiveness at Workplace Options
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP:
• LinkedIn Newsletter
• Substack: Strategic Edge
• WRAL TechWire: Regular Contributor (10+ articles in past year)
• Reworked: Contributing Author
• High Octane Leadership Podcast: Host
On June 22, 2023, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced that co-founder and CEO Donald Thompson of The Diversity Movement was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Southeast Award winner. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. Donald Thompson was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs, investors and other regional business leaders. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
Awards
1. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® — Southeast Winner
2. Forbes Next 1000
3. Inc. 5000 (3x)
4. Fast Company World-Changing Ideas
5. Inc. Best in Business
6. Business North Carolina Power 100
7. Raleigh Magazine Impact 50
8. 2023 Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Book Award in Leadership
“During my childhood, I learned how txo get knocked down and get back up. You must push through because the goal you want to attain is so much greater than the work you must put in. You endure pain because the promise is so much greater.”
– DONALD THOMPSON