387: Loneliness, Leadership, and Retaining Your Best People for Small Business Owners with Dov Baron

Loneliness isn’t just a personal issue—it’s a leadership and culture issue. In this episode, Dr. Sabrina Starling sits down with repeat guest and leadership expert Dov Baron to explore the growing epidemic of loneliness within organizations, and why it’s quietly eroding trust, engagement, and A-player retention. You’ll learn why high performers often feel the most disconnected, how loneliness shows up at work, leadership behaviors that create real belonging, and what business owners must do now to protect culture and retain their best people. If you’re leading a team and wondering why motivation, loyalty, or connection feels harder than it should, this conversation is a must-listen for you!

Dov Baron has been twice named as one of the world’s Top 30 Global Leadership Gurus in Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers. He has presented to companies and organizations worldwide, including the United Nations, the Department of State, the World Management Forum in Iran, the US Air Force, and the Famed Servant Leadership Institute. His focus on human behavior and neuroscience has made him the world’s leading authority on Emotional Source Code and the Anatomy of Meaning. Dov is the bestselling author of One Red Thread: How to Find the Purpose Already Woven Into Your Life and Fiercely Loyal: How High-Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent. He is the creator and host of The Dov Baron Show Podcast, previously known as Leadership and Loyalty. It was named the #1 podcast for Fortune 500 executives by Apple Podcasts. The Dov Baron Show has featured hundreds of hours of interviews with top leaders, scientists, theologians, military intelligence officers, and artists.

Profit by Design is a Tap the Potential production.

Show Highlights:

  • The loneliness epidemic, “The Great Pause” of 2020, our unhealthy “normal,” and the $7 trillion impact on the global GDP
  • Being isolated vs. being lonely
  • The hidden costs of the loneliness epidemic to businesses and organizations in innovation, creativity, and community
  • In 2015, Dov said, “Starting a business requires building a community.” Now, he says, “Start by building a community, and then put a business in it.”
  • A culture of belonging is different from feeling like you “fit in.”
  • Protecting your business from an AI takeover happens with relationships and emotional connections.
  • Your humanity is your best tool.
  • Understanding the Emotional Source Code (what drives an individual or organization) and how it relates to immutable laws, core values, behaviors, and identity
  • Understanding the Anatomy of Meaning (“We tell ourselves ‘rational lies’ about our emotional responses.”)
  • Dov’s free gift for listeners: The Loneliness Tax Report (Click here.)

Resources:

Connect with Dov Baron

Website, The Loneliness Tax Report, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, The Dov Baron Show Podcast, One Red Thread, and Fiercely Loyal: How High-Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent

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About The Author

Tap the potential of your team and double profit!

Sabrina Starling, Ph.D., PCC, BCC, The Business Psychologist, is the international bestselling author of the How to Hire the Best series and The 4 Week Vacation®.

The third generation in her family impacted by entrepreneurial hustle culture, Dr. Sabrina is transforming the story of success from long hours and grinding it out to work that supports and enhances life.

Hustle culture often means sacrificing our health, well-being, and relationships, all for the sake of success. Dr. Sabrina’s research shows this leads to burnout and pain in our relationships. There is a better way. Work supports life, not the other way around!™

Dr. Sabrina is revolutionizing the workplace with concepts like Work Supports Life™, 4 Week Vacations®, $10,000 an-hour activities, 25-hour workweeks, and unlimited vacation and sick time in highly profitable businesses winning the war for talent. She inspires transformation in a world where work often overshadows life, sharing insights from her ongoing research with over 650 entrepreneurs and their high-performing teams.

Featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and Thrive Global, Dr. Sabrina is the founder of www.tapthepotential.com and the globally top-ranked Profit by Design Podcast. Listed in The Daily Hustle’s Top 50 Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2022, Dr. Sabrina is on a mission to get 10,000 business leaders taking the Work Supports Life™ Pledge.

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