Podcast: A Transformative Partnership for Teaching Leadership in Business Education

Barry Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman often says that in his early career, he took management classes, got a management degree and got a job in management.

When you’re taught to “manage,” Bob says, you’re also taught to treat people as functions. You’re taught that success is money, power and position. You’re never taught to inspire. You’re never taught to care.

If you want to change the way people lead, maybe you should go to the source of where they’re taught to lead – business schools. Maybe the way we teach people to lead should change.

Christopher Reina is the Founding and Executive Director of the Institute for Transformative Leadership and an Associate Professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Chris came into our orbit at Barry-Wehmiller a number of years ago in the formative stages of what would become the Humanistic Leadership Academy, an effort we helped found, which has the mission to transform business education to create leaders who honor individual dignity, demonstrate the courage to care for others, and work toward shared wellbeing on a healthy planet.

Our relationship with Chris blossomed into a partnership at Virginia Commonwealth University, spearheaded by our Director of Outreach, Brian Wellinghoff. Brian is leading our external efforts at Barry-Wehmiller to bring Truly Human Leadership into the educational space.

Chris has also recently published a paper in the Academy of Management Review, titled “Humanistic Organizing: The Transformative Force of Mindful Organizational Communication,” that lays out a framework for businesses to transform into more people-centered organizations where individuals feel valued and a strong sense of belonging. And it features Barry-Wehmiller as one of its case studies.

On this podcast, we’re bringing Chris and Brian together to talk about the partnership at VCU to transform the way leadership is taught.You can listen through your favorite podcast provider or through the link above in the photo header.