The Loving Leader

04/12/2026

Still taking in what happened today.

I had the honor of serving as the opening keynote for
thanks to the invitation of .hamilton and the generous support of . This year's theme, There Will Be Love, was right up my alley!

I didn’t just offer a talk.
I offered a practice.

We slowed down.
We listened.
We told the truth about fear, formation, and the systems we’ve inherited.

And we asked a different question:
What does it look like to lead from love?

The day was made even sweeter coming alongside and
Grateful to be doing this work in the world through my doctoral research, the Praxis Community, The Heart & Soul of the LOVING Leader Retreat, and spaces like this that are hungry for something deeper.

If you’re sensing the invitation to lead differently… you’re not alone.

There is more available than we’ve been taught.

04/07/2026

As the world feels increasingly complex, I find myself deeply grounded in gratitude.

Grateful to be a scholar practitioner rooted in the ecosystem of LOVE.

What a gift to be part of ’s Design Love In community, supporting the launch of his new book and the movement it represents, re-centering love as a powerful and practical force in how we lead and live.

And a heartfelt congratulations to Josh D’Amaro, whose story is featured in the book, on being named CEO of

The LOVING Leader celebrates you.

Your example reminds us that love is not abstract. It is embodied, visible, and transformative in leadership.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

01/23/2026

Pinch-me moments like this don’t happen every day!

As one chapter closed yesterday morning, another opened almost immediately—
what began as a conversation with Dr. Matthew T. Lee ( / ) about his work on Love & Human Flourishing became an impromptu podcast recording at his suggestion.

These are the moments I feel most alive—
when curiosity meets generosity,
when scholarship meets humility,
and when love is taken seriously as a formative force in leadership and human flourishing.

I’m deeply grateful for Dr. Lee’s openness, intellectual rigor, and collaborative spirit—and excited for the fruit we’ll co-create in the days ahead.

Honestly, I could listen to this dialogue on repeat.

🎧 Tune in: LOVING Leadership for Flourishing with Dr. Matthew T. Lee
(Link below)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-loving-leader/id1841531396?i=1000746266826

01/06/2026

One of my favorite definitions of Love.

Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.
-Viktor Frankl

01/02/2026

Emotional intelligence is a defining leadership capability—especially at senior levels.

Research by Tyler VanderWeele and Matthew T. Lee (Harvard & Baylor) highlights love as a key factor in human flourishing, including in professional and organizational life.

After 30 years in the marketplace transforming business and culture, I’ve seen that leaders who cultivate emotional and relational intelligence are better equipped to navigate complexity, sustain trust, and lead with clarity.

This is the focus of The LOVING Leader Praxis Community.

Participants begin applying the LOVING Leader framework from Day 1, strengthening self-management, presence, and relational awareness in real-time leadership contexts.

Research consistently shows that while leaders are promoted based on expertise, those with high emotional intelligence tend to outperform their peers over time—particularly through strong self-management.

Cohort 5 launches January 6, 2026.

This is a contemplative, practice-centered leadership development experience designed to support greater coherence between values, presence, and professional impact.

Reimagine leadership through the power of love.

12/31/2025

So grateful to scroll by this morning!

Meliorism is the belief that the world can be improved through intentional human action.

I believe acts of Love—practiced consistently and embodied relationally—do shape the world we live in. Not through grand gestures alone, but through daily choices that form who we become and how we lead.

This conviction is at the heart of my work with leaders who are committed to practicing love as a way of being, not just an ideal to admire.

Cohort 5 of The LOVING Leader Praxis begins January 6 for those feeling drawn to that kind of formation. (🔗 in bio)

How does this perspective on change and leadership resonate with you?

innerwork

12/30/2025

What if love—not fear—is the missing dimension of leadership? 🫶🏽

A paper from & shows:
Love is a key factor in human flourishing—even at work.

After 30 years in the marketplace transforming business and culture, I’ve seen that leaders who thrive aren’t just the smartest—they are the most emotionally and relationally intelligent.

In Praxis Community, you don’t just learn concepts—you begin practicing them from Day 1 using my framework to lead with presence, clarity, and care.

One key EQ skill at the executive level: self-management.
The ability to stay grounded under pressure, notice your reactions without being driven by them, and foster trust and coherence in others.

Past participants have found it transformative. For example, Jessica Graham, CEO of J Graham Consulting, reflected on a day with 14 back-to-back meetings when she realized she couldn’t even consider her own humanity. Revisiting her notes from The LOVING Leader, she found strength in what she calls her “LOVING Leader muscle”—a practice that gives her the presence to lead more humanly, benefiting herself, her team, and her business.

✨ Cohort 5 launches January 6, 2026
A small, senior-level group for leaders ready to deepen their emotional and relational intelligence—and show up differently in their work and life.

Reimagine leadership through the power of love.

🔗 https://thelovingleader.org/shop/

12/19/2025

🎙️ New Episode — The LOVING Leader Podcast
Wholeness as a Leadership Strategy

I asked Gustavo Santos this question:

What’s one thing we have to unlearn to welcome well-being as part of our leadership toolkit?

His answer stopped me.

He spoke about the need to unlearn the delegation of our being to others —
to release the habit of outsourcing our worth, our direction, and our inner authority to roles, systems, and expectations that were never designed to hold our full humanity.

As Gustavo reminds us:
“You are the expert of your life.”

This is where well-being becomes a leadership practice.
Not as a program or perk — but as a reclaiming of authorship.

In extractive systems, choosing wholeness is a countercultural act.
And yet, simply by how we show up — grounded, integrated, alive — leaders create permission for others to do the same.

That’s the quiet power of love-centered leadership.

I’m curious:
👉🏽 What is one belief you’ve had to unlearn to lead from a more whole place?

🎧 Listen to the full conversation wherever you get your podcasts.
🔗 Link in bio.
(And listen to the end to hear what’s giving Gustavo life these days.)

12/16/2025

🫶🏽 and are helping lead the way with Love.

I recently listened to a podcast episode, Love and Flourishing with Dr. Matthew T. Lee and was struck by how clearly and rigorously he names love as a formative force in human flourishing—especially in leadership.

In 2023, I had the honor of speaking at Baylor University’s Institute for Faith and Learning on Leading with Love in an Age of Discord. To now find such deep resonance between Dr. Lee’s scholarship and my own research has been profoundly affirming.

It’s one thing to sense you’re onto something.
It’s another to have that knowing mirrored back through thoughtful scholarship and shared inquiry.

Grateful to be part of a growing ecosystem committed to transforming leadership from the inside out.

With appreciation to:
✨ .odonnell
✨ Amos Yong
✨

Love belongs at the center of leadership—and the research is catching up. 🫶🏽

Cohort 5 of Praxis Community begins January 6. (🔗 in bio)

Reimagine leadership through the power of love.