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Louise Sommer
Exploring Creative Intelligence, Leadership, and Learning across Cultures & History.
Welcome to my free learning space
Exploring the Art of Learning, Leadership & Culture
This blog explores how art, communication, and creative intelligence shape the way we learn, lead, and understand culture. Blending research with reflection, each post offers a thoughtful pause. A moment to reconnect with meaning, imagination, and the human experience across time and place.
Here, you’ll find reflective essays on learning, leadership, creativity, and cultural storytelling written to inspire deeper thinking and more human-centred ways of teaching, creating, and leading.
May each entry spark insight for your own learning journey.
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The Leader as a Bridge Between Cultures: When leadership becomes a meeting of inner courage and outer connection
When I teach cultural sensitivity or leadership communication, I often see this quiet fear surface. A hesitation, as if opening up to another worldview means giving away our identity, our power, our right to belong. In both Denmark and Australia, I’ve seen this happen again and again. People want to do the right thing, but somewhere deep down they think: If I make space for your difference, will there still be space for me? The paradox is this: we don’t lose ourselves by meet
Louise Sommer
Dec 105 min read
Leading from the Inside Out: Reggio Emilia and the Practice of Inner & Cultural Leadership
Leading from the Inside Out: Reggio Emilia and the Practice of Inner & Cultural Leadership explores what happens when leadership is understood not as management or control, but as a living culture of presence, belonging, and creative intelligence. Drawing on my years studying the Reggio Emilia tradition in Florence, I reflect on how a philosophy of early-childhood education became a compass for adult leadership, cross-cultural psychology, and the way we cultivate learning com
Louise Sommer
Dec 25 min read
Reggio Emilia: A European Tradition of Creative Intelligence
I grew up with Florence and her history. From my earliest visits as a child, I remember sitting alone in front of Botticelli, or walking into Santa Maria del Fiore without queues or noise, when the locals still lived in the heart of the city. I still remember stepping into a Reggio Emilia classroom on my study trip to Florence. Sunlight poured through large windows, children’s drawings and sculptures covered the walls, and the room itself was bursting with curiosity and stori
Louise Sommer
Nov 34 min read
The Leadership Manifesto
Leadership is a human capacity, not a title. It begins long before we guide others, shape systems, or influence society. It begins within It begins in how we meet ourselves. In the quiet choices we make each day. In the integrity we hold when no one is watching. We lost sight of this. We started looking outward for leadership instead of cultivating it within. True leadership is inner leadership. It is the ability to lead our inner world with awareness and responsibility. It l
Louise Sommer
Oct 313 min read
The New Addiction? What AI Can Teach Us from Social Media’s Mistakes
Is AI creating a new kind of addiction? AI risks repeating social media’s mistakes by creating artificial connection instead of authentic relationships. This article explores how design choices shape addiction, why empathy and presence matter in education and leadership, and how universities and organisations can foster digital resilience, critical reflection, and human-centred learning in an AI-driven future.
Louise Sommer
Oct 284 min read
The Crisis Isn’t Artificial Intelligence. The Crisis Is Artificial Connection.
AI shows us what we’ve neglected: closeness, listening, and humanity itself. Let’s stop making AI the scapegoat for what is missing in us. We are not losing ourselves to artificial intelligence, but we are losing ourselves to artificial connection and most people don’t even notice it happening. We scroll, we click, we respond, we 'connect', yet we feel increasingly alone, unseen, and disconnected. This is not a technological crisis. This is a human crisis of connection and le
Louise Sommer
Sep 284 min read
The Empathy Gap: What Ancient Ports Can Teach Us About Understanding Across Difference
Ancient ports like Alexandria and Carthage show how empathy once thrived as a skill reinforced by daily life. Combining neuroscience, cultural history, and lessons from high-cooperation societies, Louise Sommer explores how modern systems undermine empathy — and how education, leadership, and technology can rebuild it. A thought-provoking read for researchers, educators, and leaders shaping the future of human connection.
Louise Sommer
Sep 216 min read
How ancient Malta engineered the mind for higher learning and creativity
Ancient Malta’s Hypogeum reveals how Neolithic societies engineered the brain for learning, empathy, and long-term thinking. Combining archaeology, neuroscience, and cultural history, Louise Sommer explores how past reward systems shaped human potential — and what we can learn to design better education, leadership, and social systems today. A thought-provoking read for researchers, educators, and innovators.
Louise Sommer
Sep 76 min read
AI as a Teaching Partner: How Creative Intelligence Can Lead the Way in Higher Education
AI is no longer a question of if in higher education, but how. The real challenge is using it to enhance human Creative Intelligence rather than replacing our voice with its echo. This blog explores how scholars can lead with AI as a teaching partner: shaping learning through creativity, ethics, and presence. The real power of AI is not in replacing the educator, but in amplifying the educator’s leadership.
Louise Sommer
Aug 313 min read
The Art of Teaching, Designing, and Thinking: A Cross-Disciplinary Lens on Creative Intelligence
In a world that increasingly demands innovation, adaptability, and clarity, we often forget that the most powerful solutions come from the ability to think across disciplines. Over the years, I’ve come to realise that my most meaningful work doesn’t live in a single domain. It lives in the spaces between where psychology meets art, where teaching becomes design, and where coaching becomes a shared language of empowered learning. This is what I call creative intelligence in mo
Louise Sommer
Aug 185 min read
Communication Is Curriculum: Why How You Teach Is What You Teach
In a time where technology is reshaping education, leadership, and even identity, I believe we need a deeper conversation about the emotional, relational, and creative layers of learning. Whether you’re an educator, researcher, leader, or creative thinker, my aim is to offer ideas that support your voice, your presence, and your impact. Many of the ideas in this article are rooted in my real-world experience from working with researchers and thought leaders.
Louise Sommer
Aug 64 min read
Thought Leadership starts with a different kind of question
Once upon a time, blogging conjured images of travel diaries, food journals, or the early internet’s version of an open letter. But today? The landscape has changed. Blogging has evolved into something far more layered, strategic, and powerful. Yet strangely, the word stayed stuck in the past. What we used to call a “blog” is now a very specific form of professional communication; one that builds credibility, sharpens your voice, and attracts the right clients, collaborations
Louise Sommer
Jul 143 min read
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