From Six-Month Death Sentences to a Life of Purpose

In this episode of Survival Mode Disrupted, Leticia sits down with Tom Le Noble, a man who has been given six months to live three times and is still here talking about purpose, power, and what it really means to live fully awake. Tom walks us through his wild path: From corporate leadership roles at MCI, Walmart.com, Palm, and early Facebook (yes, that Facebook — and yes, we talk about the stock)… To being the backbone of customer operations for tech companies… To becoming a philanthropist, coach, speaker, podcast host, and CEO of the Academy for Coaching Excellence. But this isn’t just a corporate highlight reel. Tom shares how living with metastatic cancer for 13 years forced him to redefine resilience, reframe “terrible gifts,” and choose engagement over fear – again and again.

🎙️ What We Talk About

• What “survival mode” really looks like when your business is risk and resilience
• Why he says, “I retired being retired to be inspired”
• His story of joining Facebook in the early days, selling the stock, and why he truly doesn’t regret not being worth $200M
• “Terrible gifts”: the painful experiences that still end up giving you something sacred
• Being told you have six months to live three times – and deciding to make the most of every single six months
• How Tom uses presence, engagement, and curiosity to walk into radiation rooms calm while others are frozen in fear
• The power of belief in your healing and how mindset shapes what’s possible
• Why most of us sit on the sidelines of our own life and how to stop outsourcing your power
• Coaching vs therapy – and why coaches are often the ones holding space for reinvention and action
• The “haystack method”: removing the hay so clients can finally see their own needle
• How to think about your past, present, and future so you stop living in regret or anxiety and actually be here now

🔑 Key Takeaways“Every storm runs out of rain. The real question is: what are you going to plant when it does?”“Terrible things happen… and sometimes they still come wrapped in terrible gifts.”“You are not a spectator in your life. You’re the one driving the damn car.”“Baby steps turn into leaps – but only if you keep taking them.”
💬 Connect with Tom

• Website: tomlenoble.com
• Podcast: Opening Pathways with Tom Le Noble (all major platforms)
• Academy: Academy for Coaching Excellence (ICF Level 2 training)
• LinkedIn: Tom Le Noble

🔗 Resources & Links:

• 💣 Download the Survival Mode Exit Blueprint
• 👉🏾 Join the Survival Mode Exodus Membership
• 🎧 Subscribe to Survival Mode Disrupted: The Podcast on YouTube
• ✍🏾 Subscribe to Survival Mode Disrupted: The Newsletter on LinkedIn
• 💬 Book a 1:1 Session with Leticia
• 📖 Order