Love Is Me: A Digital Leadership Framework for Women
Love Is Me: A Digital Leadership Framework for Women
Bertha Robinson | 2026
Abstract
Leadership development research continues to reveal meaningful limitations in skill-based and competency-driven models that prioritize external performance while often overlooking the deeper work of internal identity formation and self-efficacy. This study examines an identity-centered, faith-informed leadership development approach designed to support women living in low-income housing contexts, including public housing. Many of these women may appear externally stable or successful, yet quietly experience diminished self-worth, internal fragmentation, and an underdeveloped leadership identity that constrains both personal and professional growth.
This study arises from observed patterns in which women rely on externally constructed identities shaped by appearance, role performance, or perceived self-sufficiency, while lacking the internal clarity, confidence, and leadership capacity necessary for sustained advancement. Without intentional identity formation, external stability can mask internal constraints that limit self-efficacy, decision-making, and leadership effectiveness across life domains. Addressing this gap requires more than skill instruction; it requires formative development that strengthens the inner architecture of leadership.
Grounded in leadership development theory, emotional intelligence research, and coaching literature, this study positions leadership development as a formative process rooted in internal coherence, self-efficacy, and relational integration. The Love Is Me Learning Management System (LMS) is explored as a pathway-based digital learning environment that coaches and guides women through a structured process of self-discovery, identity alignment, and leadership formation. Rather than focusing solely on external performance, the LMS emphasizes whole-person development that integrates personal and professional growth.
Leadership development within the Love Is Me LMS is organized across four interrelated domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Coaching serves as the primary developmental mechanism, fostering reflective learning, insight development, and behavioral integration. Through guided learning pathways, intentional reflection, and formation-oriented engagement, the LMS is designed to help participants strengthen confidence, clarify purpose, cultivate essential soft skills, and move toward greater self-sufficiency in personal, professional, and community contexts.
This study contributes to leadership development knowledge and practice by demonstrating how an identity-centered, faith-informed digital pathway can address the gap between external self-presentation and internal formation. The findings offer practical implications for faith-based organizations, housing authorities, workforce development initiatives, and leadership practitioners seeking sustainable approaches that support holistic personal and professional development. Ultimately, this research affirms that when identity formation is intentionally cultivated, women are better positioned to lead themselves and others with authenticity, clarity, and enduring confidence.
Keywords: identity-centered leadership development, women in low-income housing, personal and professional development, externally constructed identity, underdeveloped leadership identity, identity in Christ, self-efficacy, faith-informed coaching, digital leadership development