Reimagining Maslow, Reviving Belonging: Leadership Rooted in Radical Care

In a world increasingly fractured by systems of power and performance, we are being called to lead differently. My doctoral research has explored the deep and damaging impacts of toxic executive leadership on women in professional settings, particularly how such environments erode the foundational human needs of safety, belonging, and esteem. Through this research, it became clear:

Psychological safety isn’t just a buzz word or workplace perk.

Safety, belonging, and esteem must be at the core of effective leadership.

Traditionally, organizational culture has relied heavily on a misinterpretation of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This pyramid model became popular in the 1960’s when organizations were focused on how to get the most “production” out of their employees. This Americanized viewpoint of “motivation” placed self-actualization at the top, as though belonging and safety are stepping stones to reach your fullest potential rather than a holistic, lifelong, and interconnected need.

But Maslow himself revised this model late in his life after separating from this viewpoint and focusing on what he called, “peak experiences” – rooting himself back int othe study and teachings of the Blackfoot Tribal people. He returned to recognizing that in Indigenous systems, community and interconnection are not lower-level needs:

Actualization is an interconnected experience that is rooted in the sacred, continuous, and intentional cultivation of community in love, belonging, and esteem that are central to identity (Bloch et al., 2021).

When we re-imagine the pyramid, placing love and belonging at the center, we begin to understand leadership and actualization not as a climb to the top, but as a deepening into collective care and reciprocal responsibility.

This reframing has transformed my own leadership practice. It’s led me to the heart of radical care—a term that goes beyond wellness trends and into a way of being. Radical care acknowledges the energetics of leadership: that care is not passive, but an active, embodied commitment to the wellbeing of others. In this approach to leading, we are not simply managing teams. We are cultivating ecosystems. And when ecosystems thrive, so do ideas, trust, innovation, and transformative impact with community and human well-being at the center.

It’s from this place that The Gathering was born.

Set to take place this September 19-20, The Gathering is not your typical leadership event. It’s a living field experiment. A community-based design lab. A summit of relational leaders ready for strategy and collective mobilization into a “new” way of cultivating community. It is a space where women and gender-expansive leaders from across industries and communities will come together not to tout titles or to exhibit performance expertise, but to co-create a future rooted in shared wisdom, radical interdependence, and systems that work for us collectively.

I wholly believe that the future of leadership is relational. That ecosystems are more sustainable than silos. That a web of grassroots leaders, connected through purpose and care, can shift what’s possible.

So here’s your invitation:

If you’ve ever felt disillusioned by performative leadership spaces…
If you’ve been craving real collaboration, not competition…
If you know that what we need is not just another event, but a movement…

Then come join us.

Link for more information.

Want to dive deeper into Radical Care Leadership? Pick up your copy of the UnCourse!