In this conversational interview, Louis Carter and a guest discuss the role of love and emotional connection within organizations. The guest shares a personal story about his wife’s battle with cancer, which opened his heart to the value of supportive relationships and led him to create a weekly men’s support group that functions like a brotherhood. Both speakers describe how intentional practices—such as daily inner work, letting go of toxic patterns, and cultivating community agreements—can embed love into daily life and work. They link these practices to physiological benefits (oxytocin release, calm, improved performance) and to broader societal concerns, citing a recent Harvard Business Review article quoting the former Surgeon General on an epidemic of loneliness in America. The dialogue concludes with mutual encouragement to keep promoting love and connection in workplaces, emphasizing its potential to improve mental and physical health for employees.
Chapters
So we talk about love and its role in not just relationships but within our organization. And you don't hear love much inside of organizations. People don't talk about it much. Truth is though that it releases oxytocin in our body and we get this sense of calm. We begin to connect more with each other on a more intimate level and that allows us to perform form. What is it that allows you to really make that a part of your practice, your daily practice? How do you make love part of your daily practice?
Yeah, I think part of it's my love for people. Part of it came out of my experience. My wife is a 3-time cancer survivor, and there was a period, Louis, when we knew that her chances of survival were less than 10%, and my children were only My daughters were 12 and 10 at the time, and it was a time of great anxiety, and we had people reach out and help us, and it really opened my heart during that period and really appreciate the value of relationships. It changed me, and now I'm very intentional about it. I have a group of good friends, about a dozen guys. We get together every Saturday morning, have coffee, and just process life together. We really have each other's back, and it's not— no, It's not an exaggeration to say we really do love each other like friends, like brothers. And it's made all the difference in my life. It's had a huge positive impact.
And really it's that sense of community that you're talking about now, the way that your buddies get together. They are buddies and friends.
They are, yeah.
And they support you in your journey no matter what, in an agreement to support each other. You're in either an implicit or an explicit agreement We're getting together, we're going to help each other, we're going to help each other in the hard times and the good times. We're here to stay.
Yeah, yeah, we've been each other, we've been there for each other during tough times. And so how about you? How do you be intentional about bringing love into your life and relationships?
The first time I brought love in my life was for the wrong reasons. I always found that there's things in my life that I have to let go of and things I want to keep. And when I started doing work really deeply on what is it that enables me to connect to other people and be intimate and loving other people, I found my life partner. So, in my life and my family. And it was what brought me to where I want to go. Letting go of the things that were toxic, that were hurting me, that I perceived as my reality. And then going into a place of my current and real future state, I became that and life's doors opened up. And for me it was about deep inner work, personal work, working with other groups that helped me get better, joining other groups that helped me see that in myself and having mirrors to me so I could see what really and who I really am and what I want to become. That's how my life opened up to welcome in more loving, intimate, caring relationships.
Well, you're doing great work, and I just want to encourage you to keep going because I think it's so needed today. And as I was sharing with you earlier, the former Surgeon General came out in Harvard Business Review recently and shared how he sees an epidemic of loneliness in America. And it's called on organizations to increase social connections and just this emotional connectedness that you and I talk about in the workplace. And it'll really make a difference in the health, both mental and physical health, of Americans. So our work's so important, and I appreciate you.
