Flourishing Leaders Podcast Episode 41: “Humanistic Leadership, Dignity, and the Courage to Reimagine Business Education” with Professor Michael Pirson
What if leadership isn’t about control, status, or “winning”—but about protecting dignity and promoting well-being?
In this episode of The Flourishing Leaders Podcast, Dr. Scott Parsons and Jason Viyar sit down with Professor Michael Pirson, a global voice in humanistic management and humanistic leadership. Michael is the James F. Stoner Endowed Chair in Global Sustainability at Fordham University, Editor-in-Chief of the Humanistic Management Journal, and a leader in global efforts to transform leadership and business education toward human flourishing.
Together, they explore why modern systems so often normalize burnout, extraction, and “transaction-only” relationships—and what changes when organizations choose a different foundation.
In this conversation, you’ll learn:
- Why dignity is a “feature, not a bug” of being human
- How humanistic leadership opens a broader, more rigorous path to flourishing
- Why purely transactional cultures lead to innovation poverty and loneliness
- What the research says about how trust emerges and erodes—and why shared purpose matters
- Why measurement matters—and why wisdom and mindfulness must guide the use of metrics
- What’s broken in traditional business education—and what must be reimagined if we’re serious about flourishing
Memorable themes:
Human Dignity • Trust • Mindfulness • Well-being • Love and Care in organizations • Moral Imagination • Humanistic Management • Business Education Reform • Human Flourishing • Leadership Development
🎧 Listen now and join the movement toward leadership that helps people—and institutions—come alive.
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Hosted by Dr. Scott Parsons, this podcast explores how character, virtue, wisdom, and purpose can shape a more flourishing life and leadership journey.
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