Loving Leadership

By Michael Quigley

When leadership is powered by love, it can change everything…

In his second book, Michael Quigley presents a radical new model for leading using love as the driving force for your leadership. 

Michael will guide you in the six key practices of a loving leader: how to let go of enemies, grow and develop, embrace paradoxes, enjoy sacred relationships, think long-term, and produce meaning that truly matters.

This book contains a combination of inspirational true stories from the worlds of business and education, as well as key insights, unique strategies and frameworks – which you won’t find anywhere else. 

By combining the material in this book with the love in your heart you can become a true loving leader. 

Our world deserves a better kind of leader – are you ready to become one?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Dec 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398468719

Book preview

About the Author

Michael Quigley BA Hons 1st class MA, PGCE, is a former primary school teacher with extensive experience in teaching, coaching, mentoring and leadership. His company Kataholos has the mission of growing people to be their best selves with clients all over the world. Michael has a motivational podcast, Food for the Journey, as well as blogs and videos available to inspire and empower people from all walks of life. Michael loves to keep fit and play music, as well as travel and learn new skills.

Loving Leadership is Michael’s second published book.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all leaders in business, managers, teachers, parents, carers and to all those who lead from a place of love for their people. A huge thank you to Dr Kevin Treston for his wonderfully insightful foreword. To all our clients, customers, supporters and friends of Kataholos – my love for you is never ending! And to my dearest mum, Kathleen; and dad, Kevin. You have shown me what a true loving leader is, every day of your lives.

Copyright Information ©

Michael Quigley 2022

The right of Michael Quigley to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398468696 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398468719 (ePub e-book)

ISBN 9781398468702 (Audiobook)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Foreword by Dr Kevin Treston

Loving Leadership by Michael Quigley offers a very valuable resource to all those involved in fostering a holistic approach to a leadership that is characterised by caring relationships. The book develops this theme in six chapters: There is no Enemy, Grow and Develop, Embrace Paradox, Relationships are Sacred, Think Long Term and Meaning Matters.

Michael explores these features of loving leadership in an easy read personal style, characterised by profound insights into the human condition. He frequently draws from his own life experiences without losing the reader in remote academia. The whole tenor of the book is affirmative and encouraging for everyone to participate in a practice of leadership that is grounded and shaped by love and respect for differences and dignity between people.

I was impressed by how comprehensive were the wide range of topics considered, especially the challenging Reflection Questions at the conclusion of each Chapter. The Reflection Questions echoed the mantra that wisdom leadership is always a reflective undertaking.

The book would be ideal for everyone engaged in any level of leadership to invite readers to deepen their appreciation of practical leadership which is characterised by sacred values of love, respect, relationships and purpose.

Dr Kevin Treston OAM BA (Hons) MA (Hons) MEd PhD

International Consultant

Brisbane, Australia

Introduction

I did not set out to intentionally write my first book, but I did have some ideas and things I wanted to say, and I remember thinking, I wouldn’t know where else I could get this information all in one place, so I wrote it down, to help other people. I thought, If you just wanted to get your life together and look after your health in all areas, where would you go? And I couldn’t think of an answer, so I wrote a book to help people with this.

I never wrote the book to sell copies, or for any reason other than the fact that I love writing, I wanted to help people and I felt that I had something to say. The story of what happened next is quite incredible really, and I would like to share it with you here.

As the book was being published, I formed Kataholos as a limited company and completed a transition which had started with myself as a teacher, moving into self-employment as a personal trainer, tutor and then business consultant, and into founding and creating my own business. In just over three years, we are now working with a variety of clients regionally, nationally and internationally. I’ve created education projects, which are being delivered to help support teachers with their mental health and wellbeing. We deliver leadership and professional development sessions, workshops and training courses. We have online social media videos, written blog content and even now a company mascot, Cotchi the Labrador!

All this has happened in four years, and it all began with the book; which has now been read in many different countries – as far away as Australia, by over 500 people and received 22 five-star reviews and counting on Amazon! The first Kataholos book was a catalyst, a first foray outside of the world of education into the wider circles of business, charity and leadership.

Kataholos as a brand now has a mission statement, which is:

"Growing people to know, to do and to be their best selves, through a journey of integrity, loving kindness and wholesome relationships."

We are all about growing people and it began with the first book. People kept saying to me, How did you get published? I’d love to write a book. When’s your next one coming out? It was quite a journey from writing my first one – when I hardly knew anyone outside of the educational sector – to now having clients, customers and friends who love what we do, wish us well and want to support and be a part of what we are doing.

A writer writes.

That is what I tell people when they ask me how they can write their own book. I think you need to have something that you want to share, and you then write about that. The fact that you have something afterwards that can be interacted with, bought and shared, comes secondary. I did not want to write my second book until I had something that I needed to share. And now, I do.

Book one was all about looking after yourself, which is a fantastic place to start to live a holistic, happy life. And this that you are reading now follows on naturally as the next step on the journey. I have been amazed by how many wonderful people that I have met in the business world: the relationships, the creativity, the integrity, the love. Business offers me incredible chances to create opportunities to help people to grow and I am so grateful for that.

And now, it’s time for us to process into the next stage of the journey. Now it is time to lead.

I have learned so much over the past years about helping others in both the private and public sectors – through business, education and charity. I have had some incredible experiences, had so much fun and contributed to meaningful causes – and every one of them has involved other people and benefitted other people. And I am so excited to share with you what I have learned, what I have applied, what I have found works and what doesn’t.

And most importantly, I have found that true happiness, true joy, true love and serenity comes from embracing the paradoxical notion that in order to help ourselves, we must help others, to find ourselves, we must find and affirm others. And that our best selves lie beyond our own successes, our accomplishments, even our own bodies and minds. Our best self is to be found in the hearts of others. We must lead from and for love. We must be loving leaders.

What is leadership?

A leader is often thought of as being someone who has a position of power and influence and has followers. And whilst this is a good definition, I would like to add that I feel that leadership begins with us leading ourselves. You have to be someone whom you would want to follow, to be with, to work with. Leadership begins by you taking full responsibility for your life and leading yourself, which is where the popular phrase, leading by example comes from. If we do not begin from leading ourselves and being the people that we feel are our best selves, then any people or followers or team we gain will not be well looked after by us. It must begin with us. If we lead based on gaining titles and status and numbers of followers, then we are leading from out to in, but if we lead ourselves well, beginning on the inside, then our success with others can be free to follow naturally.

Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone who wants to make a positive difference in another’s life – parents, teachers, managers and people in positions of authority. As I know from first-hand experience, parents, teachers, business owners, volunteers, sports coaches, religious people and employees can all provide wonderful living examples of loving leaders. This book is not exclusively for managers or business owners. However, those who manage, and lead teams will find plenty here to help guide their leadership and to inform and affirm them as people. We all need love, and leadership is an essential aspect of character formation, growth, development and social evolution for our world. By developing yourself as a loving leader, you can be a real force for positive change and good in our world.

What is loving leadership and where does it come from?

This loving leadership model has been over 25 years in the making. Although it is only in the last 3–5 years that I have realised it!

I first began cultivating the loving leadership approach as a primary school teacher, where I found that far more