About Erik

"You have my unconditional Love" 

Now, that's a provocative statement.

You may have been taught or shown throughout your life that Love is conditional. I am here to demonstrate the four core concepts of exceptional leadership, with unconditional Love at the center. 

"You have my unconditional Love." It's the first thing I say to every basketball team I coach after I introduce myself. I tell them I have to earn their Love, but they have my unconditional Love no matter what they do.

I do the same thing for the executives I coach. I tell leaders that I Serve that they also have my unconditional Love. As we work together, they embrace what I'm doing with them and build their capacity to commit to Love within their roles and organizations. Successful leadership is about more than metrics. The dedication to leading with compassion demonstrates to employees and teams that they are cared about, inspiring real innovation and growth.

The origin of The Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership

How did I come up with this phrase? In 2011, I was in the lowest state of a 10-year case of chronic depression. I wasn't a good coach, father, or husband. I was filled with pain, and I took that out by snapping at my family over the littlest things. I couldn't cry, but there was much that needed to be expressed.

As I started getting help, I asked myself, "What were the things that went well in your life where you had fun and made a difference?" As I took those events in, I analyzed what the factors that enabled that to happen were. They were Love, Respect, Service, and Fun. Every time I was happy and successful, I found those four components in every story. I also realized that I didn't Love myself at that point. But I could choose to give myself unconditional Love and work on healing. That unconditional Love is a fundamental force that I could also offer to others, to help them become the best they could be.

I realized that Love was one of the Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership along with Respect, Service, and Fun. I equate them to the Fundamental Forces of Nature - gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces, because they are the building blocks to happier, more impactful humans and organizations that live up to their mission and vision. Over the past several years, I've worked with individuals, teams, and organizations to help them harness the transformational power of Love, Respect, Service, and Fun. I have also spoken with several groups about how these Fundamental Forces can build employees and organizations for the better.

My goal is to see a world transformed by these Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership, where everyone feels the power of being Loved unconditionally.

To learn more about each of the Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership, watch these videos below describing Love, Respect, Service, and Fun.