Flourishing Leaders Podcast Episode 23: “Flourishing with Hope: Character, Virtue, and Leadership” with Dr. Michael Lamb
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Oct 14, 2025 Dr. Michael Lamb, F.M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, dives into what it means to be a flourishing leader. He discusses the importance of hope as a vital virtue in times of division. Michael highlights how humanities can transform leadership education, and he explores Iris Murdoch’s idea of art as a means to transcend self-centeredness. The conversation also unveils seven strategies for fostering virtue and the impact of the Educating Character Initiative connecting numerous individuals and institutions.
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Flourishing Leaders Are Virtuous Guides
- A flourishing leader cultivates personal virtues and helps their community flourish through purpose and character.
- Virtues like humility, empathy, honesty, justice, courage, temperance, and hope enable leaders to lead well under pressure.
Humanities Expand Leadership's Horizon
- The humanities expand leadership beyond results to motivations, dispositions, and relational authority.
- Literature, philosophy, history, and the arts cultivate uniquely human qualities that strengthen creative, collaborative leadership.
Art's Power To 'Unself' The Leader
- Iris Murdoch's idea of 'unselfing' shows art displaces self-centered perception by revealing beauty beyond the ego.
- Experiencing beauty makes us more attentive, disrupting selfish fantasies and enabling us to do justice to others.