To Lead is to Love

“The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” 
-    Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

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I believe leadership is a calling that asks leaders to transcend themselves in order to love and serve others. When leaders do this, they unleash energy that allows people, organizations, and communities to grow and change for the better.

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Grounded in this belief, my purpose is to love and serve others by using my knowledge, experience, and talents to help people become more fully human. This includes helping them find meaning and purpose and creating environments where individuals and organizations can flourish.

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"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.”
-    Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

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Every moment presents an opportunity to transcend oneself and lead with love. When leaders choose this path, they leave people and the world better than they found them.

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My Core Leadership Beliefs

Shared Vision: Leadership begins with listening. I believe my role is to understand each individual’s aspirations, create space for those visions to be shared, and help the organization collectively form an inspiring picture of the future.

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Purpose and Values: Vision defines where an organization is going. Purpose and values define why it exists and how it operates. Purpose keeps the organization focused during uncertainty, while values guide behavior, decision-making, and how the organization engages the world.

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Enabling Meaning: Viktor Frankl believed that meaning is essential to human well-being. He taught that meaning can be found through meaningful work, through love, and through courage during times of suffering. As a leader, I see it as my responsibility to create conditions where people can find meaning, especially through their work.

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Relationships: I value moments of genuine connection by listening to people’s ideas, goals, hopes, and burdens. These moments build trust and allow for collaboration, healthy conflict, and mutual support. Strong relationships create energy that transforms both individuals and organizations.

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Focus on the Journey: Outcomes matter, but many aspects of them are outside our control. When leaders become overly fixated on goals, they risk losing their ability to love and serve others. Growth, learning, joy, and flourishing occur through the journey itself, not solely through reaching an outcome.

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Results Matter with Qualifiers: Results are important, with two conditions. First, I detach from results as the primary source of meaning and instead prioritize loving others, presence, and service. Second, I value results by how they improve the lives of others and contribute positively to the world, not only by traditional measures of success.

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Leading with Love is a Way of Being:  Leading with love is not something I aim to achieve someday. It is a way of being in the world with my family and within organizations. Each moment presents a choice between self-interest and service. How that choice is made, consistently and over time, creates momentum. That momentum creates meaningful change.