Flourishing Leaders Podcast
Flourishing Leaders Podcast
Podcast Description
The Flourishing Leaders Podcast Character. Leadership. Human Flourishing.Join Dr. Scott Parsons—retired Army officer, character development leader, and founder of The Flourishing Leaders Academy—for inspiring weekly conversations with influential thinkers, leaders, and changemakers psychology, philosophy, sports, business, and the arts—united by one goal: exploring how we can all lead with character and live flourishing lives.Each episode explores how to lead with character, make ethical decisions, build antifragile teams, and live a flourishing life. Guests share actionable insights on leadership development, emotional intelligence, growth mindset, moral courage, and practical wisdom—essential traits for today’s purpose-driven professionals.Join us as we dive into timeless wisdom and cutting-edge science to uncover strategies for ethical leadership, virtue cultivation, and living with purpose.Guests include Brian Johnson, Tal Ben-Shahar, Sean Casey, Caroline Adams Miller, Kristján Kristjánsson, and many more.Perfect for coaches, educators, executives, healthcare leaders, and lifelong learners, The Flourishing Leaders Podcast is your go-to resource for cultivating strong values, navigating complexity, and unlocking human potential.Listen every week to grow as a leader—and help others flourish too. #Leadership #LeaderDevelopment #CharacterDevelopment #CharacterEducation #PositivePsychology #Flourishing #VirtueEthics #Virtue #Areté #Arete #Phronesis #PracticalWisdom #Wisdom #Coaching #EthicalLeadership #EmotionalIntelligence #Heroic #Antifragile #Antifragility #Purpose #GrowthMindset #WellBeing #Well-Being
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes such as leadership character, ethical decision-making, team development, and strategies for living a flourishing life. Episode topics include discussions on emotional intelligence, growth mindset, and moral courage, with examples featuring prominent guests like Tal Ben-Shahar and Sean Casey who share their insights on cultivating virtuous leadership and purpose-driven living.
The Flourishing Leaders Podcast
Character. Leadership. Human Flourishing.
Join Dr. Scott Parsons—retired Army officer, character development leader, and founder of The Flourishing Leaders Academy—for inspiring weekly conversations with influential thinkers, leaders, and changemakers psychology, philosophy, sports, business, and the arts—united by one goal: exploring how we can all lead with character and live flourishing lives.
Each episode explores how to lead with character, make ethical decisions, build antifragile teams, and live a flourishing life. Guests share actionable insights on leadership development, emotional intelligence, growth mindset, moral courage, and practical wisdom—essential traits for today’s purpose-driven professionals.
Join us as we dive into timeless wisdom and cutting-edge science to uncover strategies for ethical leadership, virtue cultivation, and living with purpose.
Guests include Brian Johnson, Tal Ben-Shahar, Sean Casey, Caroline Adams Miller, Kristján Kristjánsson, and many more.
Perfect for coaches, educators, executives, healthcare leaders, and lifelong learners, The Flourishing Leaders Podcast is your go-to resource for cultivating strong values, navigating complexity, and unlocking human potential.
Listen every week to grow as a leader—and help others flourish too.
#Leadership #LeaderDevelopment #CharacterDevelopment #CharacterEducation #PositivePsychology #Flourishing #VirtueEthics #Virtue #Areté #Arete #Phronesis #PracticalWisdom #Wisdom #Coaching #EthicalLeadership #EmotionalIntelligence #Heroic #Antifragile #Antifragility #Purpose #GrowthMindset #WellBeing #Well-Being
What if one of the greatest leadership challenges of our time is not strategy, scale, or speed—but the loss of relationship?
In this powerful episode of The Flourishing Leaders Podcast, Dr. Scott Parsons and Jason Viyar sit down with Mike Erwin—Army officer, social entrepreneur, positive psychology practitioner, co-author of Lead Yourself First and Leadership Is a Relationship, and founder or co-founder of Team Red, White & Blue, The Positivity Project, The Character & Leadership Center, and the Saint Sebastian Institute.
Drawing from years of service in combat, education, veteran wellness, character formation, and leadership development, Mike offers a deeply practical and deeply human vision of leadership. He reflects on the power of solitude, the richness of character, the importance of shared purpose, and the urgent need to put people first in an increasingly digital and transactional world.
You’ll learn:
- Why Mike believes leadership is fundamentally relational
- How he defines a flourishing leader—and why leadership is about getting others to do hard things because they want to
- Why solitude is not simply physical isolation, but a state of mental clarity
- How studying under Chris Peterson shaped Mike’s understanding of character strengths
- Why building a shared vocabulary around character helps deepen relationships and strengthen teams
- What civilian leaders can learn from veteran communities about belonging, purpose, and connection
- Why younger generations may be pushing us toward a healthier understanding of work, life, and flourishing
This episode is filled with wisdom for leaders in business, education, the military, nonprofit work, ministry, and everyday life.
If you care about character, relationships, community, solitude, and human flourishing, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
Guest Bio
Mike Erwin is a decorated Army officer, social entrepreneur, and leadership expert. A 2002 graduate of West Point, he served three combat tours and later earned a master’s degree in positive psychology from the University of Michigan, where he studied under Dr. Chris Peterson. Mike founded Team Red, White & Blue, co-founded The Positivity Project, leads The Character & Leadership Center, and serves as Chairman of the Board for the Saint Sebastian Institute. He is also the co-author of Lead Yourself First and Leadership Is a Relationship.
Listen now and ask yourself:
How might your leadership change if you treated relationship—not efficiency—as the true center of your influence?
Thank you for listening to the Flourishing Leaders Podcast!
Hosted by Dr. Scott Parsons, this podcast explores how character, virtue, wisdom, and purpose can shape a more flourishing life and leadership journey.
Learn more at:Flourishing Leaders Academy
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Share this episode with someone who’s ready to lead with integrity and flourish in every domain of life.
Connect with Scott:LinkedIn | [email protected]
Flourish with us—because leadership rooted in character changes everything.
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