When John R. Miles joined me on the Transform Your Workplace podcast, I expected a rich conversation—he’s a former military officer, Fortune 50 executive, private equity partner, successful podcast host, and the author of Passion Struck. What I didn’t expect was the vulnerability, depth, and clarity with which he articulated something many of us feel but can’t quite name: we’re living lives we think we should be living, not the lives we’re meant to lead.
“I believe we’re best positioned to serve the person we once were,” John told me. And that insight frames his entire journey—from a life shaped by external expectations to one marked by intentional living and emotional significance.
From FBI Dreams to Fortune 50 and Beyond
John’s story starts in the military, where he was on track to join the FBI. But life had other plans. Days before he was set to attend Quantico, a budget delay recycled his class. That delay turned into a 36-month detour into management consulting and, ultimately, a meteoric rise into corporate leadership.
He reached the C-suite of a Fortune 50 company, led business units as a CEO, and became a partner in private equity. On paper, he had it all. But inside, something was missing.
“You find yourself like a fish out of water,” John said. “People call it burnout, but it felt more like disconnection from the life I was supposed to lead.”
That realization sparked what he now calls “crossing the chasm”—a two-year transformation that became the heart of Passion Struck.
Burnout Isn’t a Workload Problem—It’s a Worth-Load Problem
John reframes one of the biggest issues plaguing today’s workforce: disengagement. “We’ve mistaken burnout as a workload problem,” he told me. “But what if the real issue is a worth-load problem?”
He shared a quote from his interview with psychologist Shige Oishi: “In order for your life to matter, it has to not just matter to you, but to others.” That quote hit hard. In many workplaces, people are productive, yet invisible. They’re performing, but not fulfilled.
For John, a home invasion and a friend’s suicide served as a wake-up call. “Why was I spending all my time making other people’s dreams come true, and not my own?”
What Does It Mean to Be Passion Struck?
The term Passion Struck came from a conversation with Keith Krach, former CEO of DocuSign. As John explained the traits of bold leaders—those willing to risk everything for a mission—Keith responded, “It sounds like someone who was stuck and became passion struck.” That phrase stuck, and eventually became the name of his brand, book, and podcast.
Being Passion Struck, John explained, isn’t just about chasing dreams. It’s about aligning your life with intrinsic motivation, overcoming the invisible barriers that keep you stuck, and living with intention.
Three “Mosquitoes” That Sabotage Our Lives
One of the most memorable metaphors in John’s book is his “Mosquito Auditor” concept, an exercise for identifying people or habits that suck the life out of us.
- Invisible Suffocators – The glass-half-empty types who drain your enthusiasm.
- Bloodsuckers – Boundary violators who exploit your time and energy.
- PITAs (Pain in the Ass) – Clients or obligations that constantly overextend you.
His advice? Audit the five closest people to you. If they’re mosquitoes, it’s time to set boundaries and reclaim your energy.
Why Momentum Matters
“People don’t leave jobs because of tasks,” John said. “They leave because of emotional subtraction—the slow erosion of significance.”
Quoting Harvard’s Amy Edmondson, he explained that teams fail not from incompetence, but from silence. When psychological safety erodes, people stop contributing. And that’s true in life too: once momentum is gone, our sense of purpose unravels.
Practical Advice for Leaders
At Lowe’s, John was brought in to help solve a massive cybersecurity breach. But HR had another surprise: his team ranked dead last in employee engagement across 350,000 employees.
Instead of assuming the worst, John did what many leaders won’t—he met with people at every level. What he uncovered wasn’t incompetence, but mattering loss, especially among frontline managers. They were burned out, misaligned, and disconnected from the company’s mission.
To turn things around, John focused on:
- Radical Visibility – Showing up to data centers at 2 a.m., call centers at 5 p.m., repeating the message until it echoed.
- Line-of-Sight Clarity – Helping every employee understand why their work mattered.
- Gardener Leadership – Not micromanaging, but cultivating growth with “eyes on, hands off” leadership.
The result? That same disengaged team became the second most engaged team at Lowe’s within two years.
The Mattering Revolution
John is now leading what he calls the Mattering Revolution. At its core, it’s a response to what he sees as a global crisis of loneliness, hopelessness, and emotional disconnection.
“We’ve lost our sense of mattering,” he said. “People aren’t even on autopilot anymore. They’re directionless—living like a pinball, being bounced around by life.”
He’s working on a new book and a children’s book to help people of all ages rediscover personal mattering, with the hope that it will ripple outward into their workplaces, families, and communities.
Final Thoughts: Systems Change Starts with One Person
John has interviewed some of the brightest minds—Angela Duckworth, Ryan Holiday, Amy Edmondson, and Seth Godin. And the message that echoes through all of them is this:
Systemic change begins with individual action.
Whether it’s solving burnout, fixing climate change, or rebuilding community, real impact starts with one person deciding they matter—and helping others feel the same.
John R. Miles isn’t just talking about intentional living. He’s showing us how to do it and daring us to start now.
To learn more about John’s work, visit johnrmiles.com or check out the Passion Struck podcast at passionstruck.com.
Brandon Laws is a workplace culture and leadership enthusiast, host of the Transform Your Workplace podcast, and VP of Marketing and Product at Xenium HR.