Nore Salman Dr. shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Nore, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I’ve been spending more time in nature, hiking and walking without headphones. It’s been grounding and helps me come back to work clearer and more present.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Dr. Noré Salman, a psychologist and executive coach, and the founder of The Heart-Centered Leadership Institute (THCLI). My work focuses on helping high-achieving leaders, founders, and executives develop the emotional intelligence, self-mastery, and relational awareness required to scale without burning out, compromising their values, or losing their sense of self in the process.
My background is a blend of clinical psychology, leadership development, and organizational performance, which means I don’t just help people “feel better” — I help them lead better. My clients come to me because they are successful on paper, but they want their internal world to match the success they’ve built externally. They want clarity, depth, and alignment. They want to lead from presence, not pressure.
What makes THCLI unique is our emphasis on the inner world of leadership. We look beyond strategy to the patterns, emotional conditioning, and belief systems that drive behavior. When leaders learn to regulate their nervous system, attune to others, and communicate with grounded confidence, the ripple effect shows up in revenue, culture, and impact.
Right now, my work is focused on advancing a more conscious, emotionally intelligent model of leadership, one where human connection is viewed as a performance advantage, not a soft skill. I offer one-on-one executive coaching, leadership development programs, and speaking engagements for organizations that are ready to scale with integrity, depth, and humanity.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
When I was very young, my parents were both pursuing their PhDs, and I was raised primarily by my grandparents. My grandfather was the person who saw me fully before I could see myself. He taught me warmth, emotional presence, and the power of truly showing up for others. When he passed away when I was twelve, it felt like the ground beneath me disappeared. I lost the person who made me feel deeply seen, and I grew up quickly.
That moment shaped how I see the world because it taught me two truths very early:
1. Love is not measured by proximity, but by presence.
2. We become who we are through the quality of our relationships.
Losing him made me highly attuned to emotional dynamics in others — how people protect themselves, how they long to be understood, and how connection can heal or fracture depending on how we show up. It also instilled a quiet strength. I learned to self-soothe, to grow without instruction, and to build a life without a roadmap or external support.
This experience is the root of my work now. My coaching centers on attunement, emotional intelligence, and conscious leadership, because I know from lived experience that the most powerful transformations don’t happen from strategy alone, but from being seen, supported, and met at a human level. My grandfather’s presence and the loss of it — shaped my belief that leadership is fundamentally relational. How we treat people matters. How we listen matters. And how we choose to show up shapes every room we enter.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me that strength is not built from achievement, but from endurance. Success can validate you, but suffering transforms you. Growing up, I learned early what it meant to lead myself, to create stability without a blueprint, to show up with excellence even when no one was watching, and to believe in a future I couldn’t yet see. Those experiences built my capacity for compassion, resilience, and self-trust. They are the reason I can sit with leaders in their highest pressure moments and guide them through complexity with clarity rather than force.
Suffering gave me the internal architecture that success later expanded.
Success is what the world sees — resilience is what I stand on.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I admire Michelle Obama for her strength of character, her grounded presence, and the way she leads without needing to dominate a room. What stands out to me is her commitment to authenticity and her ability to stay connected to her values despite being in environments that are driven by power, status, and influence. She communicates with empathy, clarity, and emotional intelligence, and she consistently uses her platform to uplift others rather than center herself.
As a leader, she demonstrates that influence does not require force. It requires alignment — alignment between one’s values, words, and actions. I admire people who don’t just talk about integrity, but embody it. Her example reinforces my own belief that leadership is not defined by how loudly you speak, but by how deeply you listen, how consistently you act, and how you make others feel seen and valued.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people say that I helped them remember who they really are.
That I didn’t just teach strategies or offer advice, but that I held a mirror that allowed them to see their own strength, wisdom, and capacity for love. I hope they say that I taught them how to lead without abandoning themselves, how to succeed without hardening, how to build without losing their humanity.
I want to be remembered for expanding what people believe is possible in their lifetime — in their careers, relationships, and inner world. For guiding leaders to create wealth without sacrificing their nervous system, their values, or their relationships. For showing that power does not require force, and influence does not require performance — it requires presence, attunement, and self-mastery.
If the story people tell is that their life opened, softened, and became more true because I crossed their path, then I lived my purpose well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thcli.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theheartcenteredleadership/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-noré-salman-executive-coach
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theheartcenteredleadershipinstitute
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
