Dr James Doty talks to Christine Miller MA
Find out with us –
* What Love at Work means
* How Love encompasses compassion, trust and caring
* How these Values enhance wellbeing in our world
It was a valuable, authentic and truly enjoyable experience to have a conversation for the Loveworks Podcast about Love at Work with neuroscientist and author Dr James Doty – ‘a nice guy trying to be better’.
We covered a lot of ground in our exploration of caring, compassion and trust, their importance in organisations for wellbeing at work, for reducing stress, for organisational success including financial prosperity, in our lives as a whole.
We set the context for talking about Love at Work – that it’s a bigger, more comprehensive meaning than romance or sex – and that Love does indeed have a multitude of meanings.
About Dr James Doty
James R. Doty, MD (1 December 1955–16 July 2025) was an adjunct professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and the founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford, whose founding benefactor is His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He worked with scientists from a range of disciplines to examine the neural foundations of compassion and altruism.
Through CCARE, Dr Doty oversaw the development of techniques, applications and programmes addressing mental health, stress, anxiety and burnout. He was also the founder and CEO of Happi (happi.ai), a healthcare company developing a digital platform that combined artificial intelligence with a human avatar to address mental health issues. At the time of his death, he remained CEO of Happi.AI. He was also a senior editor of The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science.
Dr Doty was an inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He supported charitable organisations promoting peace, funded health clinics around the world, created programmes for people with disabilities, and supported programmes for adolescents affected by HIV/AIDS. He also funded research, provided scholarships and endowed chairs at several universities. At the time of his death, he was developing educational programmes for children from kindergarten through 12th grade, focused on compassion, empathy and social-emotional learning.
His book, Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, was a New York Times bestseller and was translated into 40 languages. It also inspired the BTS song “Magic Shop”, which appeared on the K-pop group’s third studio album, Love Yourself: Tear. His final book, Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything, was published in May 2024.
Dr Doty served on the boards of several non-profit organisations. He was a former chair of the Dalai Lama Foundation and vice-chair of the Charter for Compassion, and also served as an adviser to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation. His work was featured in numerous media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC and ABC. He spoke around the world about the neuroscience and health benefits of compassion.
- References from our conversation:
Linked In Founder: Jeff Weiner Executive Chairman The Compassion Project website, says: “Compassion is a skill that enables you to see the world through the eyes of another person in order to alleviate their suffering or help them. I can’t think of anything more important right now that could help the world start to reconnect and heal.” “Managing compassionately is not just a better way to build a team, it’s a better way to build a company.”
Australian CEO ; Gordon Cairns now a Buddhist who described himself as “a horrible boss – driven by power, task-oriented and only concerned with getting the job done, whatever the cost”.
Link to James Doty’s Book:
https://www.jamesrdotymd.com/books
For a transcript of the conversation please leave a message in the comments below.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:32 — 23.7MB)
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Thanks Christine for the interesting conversation. Wishing you success in this series. Good work.
Thanks Richard I appreciate that. It’s a learning curve for sure – I have to thank Alan for helping with the editing!
I’ve got more powerful conversations to come, one with a very outspoken Wall Street financier who doesn’t mince his words, (and doesn’t do deals less than $50 million) but does think Love is central to all he does.
Fascinating perspective.
Fabulous interview – informative and inspirational – thank you. I would so appreciate a copy of the transcript.
Dear Jacqueline
Thanks for your comments – I’m delighted you found the interview informative and inspirational – and a copy of the transcript is on its way to your email address.
Dr Doty is a superb interview subject, and to quote him about himself;
“A nice guy trying to be better”.
Love to you
Christine