The Reflective Executive and the Road to Human Flourishing: Intelligence, Creativity and Moral Imagination.

By President Gayle D. Beebe, Ph.D.

As we continue to pursue our aspiring edge, we’re launching new programs and initiatives at Westmont. We look forward to completing the Keith Center on Anapamu Street in downtown Santa Barbara, which will house programs in nursing, theology, economics and media.

I’ve started a podcast, The Reflective Executive, to explore the kind of internal dialogue that undergirds wise leadership and leads to self-correction. Drawing from a philosophy shaped by my reading and influential mentors, I invite listeners to adopt the daily discipline of reflection: reviewing what has happened, preparing for what lies ahead and cultivating awareness of the people and responsibilities I’ll encounter.

In June, I announced Westmont’s formal engagement with the Global Flourishing Project, and we’ve committed to tracking and reflecting on flourishing through its six dimensions in the years ahead.

Considering a broader historical context, Simone Weil and T. S. Eliot both questioned what kind of moral and philosophical vision could help rebuild a fractured world amidst the chaos of World War II. Their insights — especially Eliot’s warning that “they had the experience, but missed the meaning” — serve as a caution and a call. Leaders must not only act but also interpret their experience in ways that promote growth, wisdom and human flourishing.

The Global Flourishing Study, a landmark, five-year research initiative by Harvard and Baylor Universities, seeks to define and measure the essential components of human flourishing. Building on Martin Seligman’s foundational work in positive psychology, the study surveys 200,000 participants in 22 countries, identifying six dimensions of well-being that form a comprehensive vision of thriving both personally and socially.

The first domain, happiness and life satisfaction, grows out of autonomy and competence. People flourish when their work aligns with their values and they feel trusted to contribute meaningfully. It’s important to create environments that combine freedom and accountability, just as Red Poling of Ford Motor Company empowered employees by setting clear goals and giving workers the freedom to achieve them creatively.

Second, flourishing depends on physical and mental health, not as freedom from hardship but as resilience in the face of it. Creativity often coexists with difficulty, making life’s burdens essential to growth instead of obstacles. Resilience requires cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation and belief in the ability to respond well to adversity.

The third element, meaning and purpose, helps us see that our life matters and connects to enduring goals. Viktor Frankl observed that suffering becomes bearable when it serves a meaningful purpose. People with a strong sense of purpose report greater happiness and cope better with life’s challenges, especially when contributing to something larger than themselves.

The fourth domain, character and virtue, includes moral development and pursuing the good life. Socrates and Aristotle addressed these issues, and it remains important to help people wrestle with questions of goodness through personal reflection as well as education, community and mentoring.

Fifth, well-being requires close and positive social relationships. With humans wired for connection, deep, supportive relationships represent some of the strongest predictors of happiness and longevity. Religious communities play an important role in fostering this kind of belonging, with strong evidence linking regular participation with lower depression, greater meaning and stronger civic life.

Finally, financial and material stability provides the practical foundation for flourishing. While

 prosperity alone fails to guarantee fulfillment, the absence of economic security generates stress and disorientation. Flourishing requires a balance: enough stability to reduce anxiety paired with purpose and perspective that rise above material concerns.

To flourish, we must become self-aware so we can self-regulate. A simple Venn diagram illustrates this process: intelligence born of education and guided experience, creativity born of innovation and strategic risk-taking, and moral intelligence born of empathy and emotional insight. These intersecting qualities form the foundation of reflective leadership.

Educators shaped my thinking and character — from Robert Gundry’s biblical insight to Peter Drucker’s practical genius. These mentors encouraged me to become more fully myself through rigorous learning and reflection. The moral philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch took me deeper through her concept of attention, borrowed from Simone Weil: a just and loving gaze that slowly reorients our perceptions. Murdoch believed that moral change begins with seeing others rightly, especially when ego and self-deception distort our view. This vision aligns with reflections by Simone Weil, T. S. Eliot and others who sought to rebuild society by recovering a sense of moral and spiritual purpose.

I consider the cultivation of moral character to be the only durable foundation for statecraft. Leaders must become inwardly transformed to lead communities toward genuine flourishing. How do we accomplish this? The parables of Jesus offer a powerful tool for personal transformation. They disrupt our assumptions and force us to shift perspective, inviting us to see from multiple vantage points as we cultivate self-examination. We must avoid quick conclusions and develop the humility required to ask, “What am I missing?” Beauty and storytelling can awaken grace, humility and moral clarity. The parables — and the moral imagination they inspire — call us to inner conversations that lead to self-correction. Human flourishing requires this kind of spiritual realism: seeing others as independent centers of reality and cultivating institutions that serve the common good.