Open Hearts Leadership Project
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Open Hearts Leadership Project
@openheartsleaders.bsky.social
Aloha! I’m Chris McCusker, Ph.D., Founder of Open Hearts Leadership Project! “Going first with love and truth” in our divided world. Amor e veritas! Mahalo!
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Chicago’s still got grit, grace, and a wicked sense of humor. A love and truth letter to the city that taught me resilience, laughter, and how to shovel a neighbor’s sidewalk without being asked.

💙 My Kind of Town: Where the Dish Is Deep and the Jokes Deeper

open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
My Kind of Town: Where the Dish Is Deep and the Jokes Deeper
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
Chicago’s still got grit, grace, and a wicked sense of humor. A love and truth letter to the city that taught me resilience, laughter, and how to shovel a neighbor’s sidewalk without being asked.

💙 My Kind of Town: Where the Dish Is Deep and the Jokes Deeper

open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
My Kind of Town: Where the Dish Is Deep and the Jokes Deeper
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 12:25 PM
We need to stop re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and take an action today! Calculate your footprint!
open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
The Uninsurable Planet: A Leadership Guide to the Risk We Can't Ignore
By Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM
In a world where situations shape behavior, leaders must design for accountability and trust. My latest Substack article shows why masked ICE agents risk injustice! Leaders create situations! Read & share thoughts:
open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
#Psychology #Leadership #Accountability #Trust
A Dangerous Situation: Why Masked ICE Agents are a Recipe for Injustice
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
July 24, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Rockwell spent 50 years making America feel good about itself.

Then he used that trust to paint what we didn’t want to see.

That’s leadership.

Love first. Then truth.

Full profile here →
open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
#NormanRockwell #Leadership #ArtAsResistance #OpenHeartsLeadership
Norman Rockwell - Profiles in Open Hearts Leadership #19
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
July 16, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Cheating for a cause still stains the cause.
The ends don’t justify the means. The means shape the ends.
⬇️
🔗https://open.substack.com/pub/openheartsleadership/p/the-ends-dont-justify-the-means-the?r=4ogqhh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
#Leadership #Ethics #OpenHearts
The Ends Don’t Justify the Means - "The How" Shapes "the What" and "The Who"
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 7:29 PM
It’s our turn to be the dog. We are being conditioned to rage at each other.

open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
Pavlov’s America: How We Are Being Conditioned for Civil War
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 10:38 PM
teamwork feeling off lately?
half your crew in D minor, other half in C major?
might be time for a little Beach Boys leadership therapy. 🎶🌊
open.substack.com/pub/openhear...

#poetry #BeachBoys #leadership #vibesync #harmony #OpenHearts #DontWorryBaby
HeartWhispers - Harmony That God Only Knows - Notes on Love and Truth
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
June 24, 2025 at 6:32 PM
How did a free stick of gum build an empire?
William Wrigley Jr. didn’t just sell chewing gum—he sold optimism. How did old-school Chicago hustle - and Chewable Optimism - turned Wrigley’s name into a global brand? It is a leadership lesson that still sticks. substack.com/@openheartsl...
William Wrigley, Jr. — Profile in Open Hearts Leadership (#18)
by Chris McCusker Ph.D.
substack.com
June 18, 2025 at 12:58 AM
On July 4, 1776, a group of rebels gave the King the finger.
It’s the greatest leadership manifesto ever written, but it needed a remix. So I wrote one.
Here’s how to lead with in a world full of corporate BS. open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: An Open Hearts Remix
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 9:03 PM
In a time of rising division and moral fatigue, here is a guide to Open Hearts Protests that offers a blueprint for leaders to organize nonviolent action rooted in dignity, reality, and shared humanity. Mahalo!
openheartsleadership.substack.com/p/protesting...
Protesting Non-Violently Needs a Plan: Here is One Based on Open Hearts Leadership Principles
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
openheartsleadership.substack.com
June 10, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Fromm saw it all coming: the loneliness, the conformity, the escape into authoritarianism.
In this new piece, I explore Erich Fromm’s timeless insights through the lens of Open Hearts Leadership.
open.substack.com/pub/openhear....

🧠🫀🌍 #Leadership #Freedom #Fromm #OpenHearts
Profiles in Open Hearts Leadership (#17) - Erich Fromm
By Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
May 29, 2025 at 5:09 PM
No cheers today.
Just silence between the notes.

“Taps” isn’t a song of victory.
It’s a whisper of memory.

Day is done. Gone the sun. God is nigh.
open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
HeartWhispers – Notes on Love and Truth. Today's Topic: “Taps”
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
May 26, 2025 at 9:38 PM
⚾️ Just posted: my all-time Open Hearts Leadership Baseball Team.

This one’s for anyone who believes leadership is about more than winning. And yeah—some Cubs magic, too.

Let’s play two.
👉 open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
#Leadership #Baseball #OpenHearts
The Open-Hearts Leadership All-Star Team: Lessons in Character from Baseball’s Greatest Leaders
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
May 21, 2025 at 10:15 PM
What does true leadership look like? Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a Roman farmer called to lead offers a model we still desperately need. In this profile, I explore how Cincinnatus embodied the principles of Open Hearts Leadership. #openheartsleadership
open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
Profiles in Open Hearts Leadership (#16) - Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
open.substack.com
May 15, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Here is an article written entirely by an AI LLM that wants to remain anonymous. The human author only made minor tweaks to add in some humor. Mahalo! openheartsleadership.substack.com?r=4ogqhh&utm... open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
Defining Ideal vs. Infernal Leadership for the American Republic: The Founders versus the Devil
by an Anonymous AI LLM and Chris McCusker, Ph.D. (who made minor tweaks only)
open.substack.com
May 14, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Here is an article on the efforts led by Al Gore on Reinventing Government in the 1990s. A remarkable success story. The lessons for today's efforts are many. Mahalo! openheartsleadership.substack.com/p/from-red-t...
From Red Tape to Open Hearts: Al Gore’s “Reinventing Government” and a Call for Human-Centered Change
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
openheartsleadership.substack.com
May 12, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Open Hearts Leadership Project
My statement on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis:
April 21, 2025 at 12:51 PM
April 18, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Aloha, Here is an article on how the tit-for-tat strategy is stops bad actors like nobody has ever seen before: open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
Inbox | Substack
open.substack.com
February 6, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Open Hearts Leadership Project
Ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear is founding an AI startup backed by a16z
Ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear is founding an AI startup backed by a16z
Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, is launching a new AI startup, TechCrunch has learned. The startup, called Stem AI, is currently in stealth. But public documents show it was incorporated in June 2023, and filed for a trademark in August 2023.…
tcrn.ch
December 19, 2024 at 8:35 PM
When should a negotiator compete? When should a negotiator cooperate? This is the fundamental leadership challenge of negotiation! Read more here! open.substack.com/pub/openhear...
December 21, 2024 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Open Hearts Leadership Project
December 17, 2024 at 2:36 PM