Robin Miles

Researcher | Transformative Leadership Scholar | Executive Coach

A Little About Me

I am a student in the Transformative Studies Ph.D. program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, California. I also work full-time as a learning and development professional in the high-tech industry.

As I reflect on these past few years, I must say that this has been quite a journey of inner exploration, excavation and transformation. I entered the doctoral program in 2014 right on the heels of completing a Masters in Transformative Leadership, also at CIIS. In all transparency, I did not have a clear rationale (personally or professionally) for entering into the doctoral program. I was not romantically lured by being labled a "scholar," "academic," or "Ph.D./doctor." Anyone who knows me knows that I could honestly care less about acadamic platitudes or materialistic status symbols. I also didn't have any concrete thoughts about what I wanted to research.

So, what the heck was compelling me to sign up for yet another 4-5 years of academic rigor???

Ha! I'm glad you asked!!!

As an executive coach and leadership development consultant, I personally practice and support my clients in opening to the transformative equation of limitless possibilities:

(Self-Awareness + Wisdom) x (Vulnerability + Creativity) = Limitless Possibilities

I have come to learn that my old way of relying on plans and static mental constructs to accomplish my goals was no longer serving me.

What I did know upon completing my Masters was that I had this unexplainable desire to continue following the breadcrumbs that were still scattered as far as my eyes could see down the path I was on. Intuitively, I also knew that these breadcrumbs represented valuable threads that I needed to complete the intricate weave of my personal, professional and academic passions and begin to step more powerfully into my life's purpose. As such, this program serves as one of many catalysts for who I am becoming and the significant contribution I aim to make to the academic and practitioner body of leadership scholarship.

This summer I used my final course as an independent study to immersed myself deeply into fine-tuning the "story-line"and honing the literature review for my study. Now, I can honestly say that I am passionately in love with my inquiry and believe that it is timely and critically relevant to our collective definition and embodiment of leadership on both national and global levels.

As I enter into the proposal phase of my program, I thought it would be a good idea to create this site in an effort to 1) Stay accountable and on task for timely completion of my study - I'm aiming for a maximum of 2 more years to graduation; 2) Catalogue my research journey for others aspiring to travel down this path as well as those interested in my inquiry topic; and 3) Offer a community gathering space where my research participants can share experiences and learn from each other.

Thank you in advance for your support and interest in my research inquiry.

The current state of our global society has inspired my inquiry into love as an imperative character strength for 21st century leadership.

My qualitative research study aims to explore the phenomenological intersection of leadership and love as guided by the following inquiry questions:

How might building love as a character strength transform, or at a minimum inform a participant’s leadership (identity/interiority and persona/exteriority) and strengthen their capacity and capability to lead more effectively (transformative impact)?
How might leaders develop love as a character strength?
How might engaging in an embodiment practice focused on building love as a character strength transform the participant’s self-concept of their leadership persona?
How will this focused development on love character awaken the participant to new ways of being, thinking and leading?
How will this experience inform how a participant will choose to relate to others differently particularly at work, but also in other domains of their life?

The primary goal of the study is to engage with participants in unearthing personal, developmental and relational themes, patterns and outcomes that occur as executive business leaders open to and engage in habit-forming practices aimed at cultivating love-centric leadership character strengths. The research design includes an empirically validated character strengths assessment and debrief, semi-structured pre-participatory action interview and structured post-participatory action interviews, to understand the participant’s lived experience throughout the course of the study.

As society continues to ponder the question, “Does character matter in leadership?” I hope my research will offer unique perspectives that will catapult love character to the top of the list of essential future of work traits that experienced, evolving and emerging leaders must cultivate for optimal effectiveness.

I trust that you will hold a positive space that this initial study will be a steppingstone towards contributing considerably to the body of leadership scholarship by narrowing the gaps between moral, social and business dimensions and applications of character.

Let's go!