Brené with Mike Erwin on Leadership Is a Relationship, Part 2 of 2

What It Covers

Mike Erwin discusses his book Leadership Is a Relationship, exploring seven relationship functions that strengthen leadership: trust, accountability, forgiveness, loyalty, coalition building, and stability through human connection in organizational settings.

Key Questions Answered

• •Trust through humility: Strip away unnecessary formalities and rank structures to build intimacy. Former VA Secretary Bob McDonald insisted staff call him Bob rather than Secretary to eliminate barriers and demonstrate he worked on their behalf, not above them.
• •Affirmational language: Replace negative commands with positive direction to build trust neurologically. Say walk please instead of stop running, or show humility instead of stop bragging. Air traffic controllers use this principle globally to direct behavior toward desired outcomes effectively.
• •Loyalty boundaries: Distinguish other-focused loyalty from self-focused manipulation. Healthy loyalty includes accountability and forgiveness while serving the other person's best interest. When loyalty moves people out of their values, it becomes transactional rather than relational and potentially abusive.
• •Relationships as stability: Connection provides grounding amid chronic uncertainty and volatility. Relationships do not eliminate chaos but create personal stability to navigate unpredictable environments. This stabilizing force was threatened during pandemic isolation, explaining why people remain unsettled post-COVID.