Human At Work
A space for the heartbeat of leadership
Loren Benberry: Leading with Presence in a Noisy World
BY CAMMANEX EDITORIAL
Loren Benberry is a people-centered leader known for her calm presence, emotional intelligence, and trust-first approach to leadership. She leads with clarity rather than control, patience rather than pressure, and a deep respect for the human experience at work. In a world that often rewards volume and speed, Loren’s leadership is steady — grounded in consistency, humility, and care. That steadiness didn’t arrive by accident. It was shaped early, in quiet moments long before leadership had a name.
As a child, Loren played quietly. Not because she lacked imagination, but because she lived deeply inside it. “I don’t think I felt seen,” she reflects. “I felt like I was hiding inside my head.” She spent much of her time outside, often alone, learning to observe, to listen, and to read emotional climates long before she understood why they mattered. That early sensitivity became her compass.Over time, it taught her to notice what others missed — the unspoken shifts in energy, the weight people carried into rooms, the moments when it was time to stay and the moments when it was time to go. “Sometimes children read rooms better than adults,” she says. “And that awareness stays with you.”Early responsibility deepened that awareness. Becoming a mother at a young age brought weight, urgency, and purpose all at once. There was no blueprint — only love, resilience, and the determination to do the best with what she had. “It was heavy back then,” Loren says, “but we did it with love.” That season refined her patience and anchored her humility, teaching her that leadership isn’t about control — it’s about care, trust, and showing up consistently.
“Leadership isn’t about control — it’s about care, trust, and showing up consistently.”
It was also during these years that she came to understand the quiet strength her mother had always modeled: strong-minded, strong-willed, restrained by pain, yet guided by a deep desire for peace of mind. “I never understood what she meant when she said she only wanted peace,” Loren says. “Now I completely understand.” From those early imprints, Loren’s leadership began to take shape — not as a performance, but as a presence.
Softening Through Leadership
When Loren first stepped into leadership roles, she carried the lessons she had been taught — and the expectations that came with them. Like many new leaders, she was taught to manage closely, to oversee every detail, to equate control with responsibility. But experience quickly taught her otherwise. One moment, in particular, changed everything.
A crew member once told her she seemed unapproachable. The words landed heavily — not because they were cruel, but because they were true. Loren stepped back and asked herself a difficult question: How can I lead by example if this is how I’m being experienced? It was a turning point. Instead of hardening, she softened. She listened. She adjusted. And in doing so, she discovered that real leadership is not about being right — it’s about being reachable. Micromanagement, she realized, was inherited, not intentional. Trust had to come first. “Building trust is the key,” she says. “Everything else follows.” That lesson still guides her today.
Inner Work & Emotional Intelligence
Loren knows the difference between leading from presence and leading from pressure.
When expectations stack, when external demands dictate behavior, leadership becomes strained. “Even management answers to someone,” she says. “But when expectation replaces presence, disconnect happens.”
Her return to herself is deliberate and quiet.
She prays.
She walks.
She meditates.
She sits in silence.
“I put the world back into perspective,” she explains. “The noise never stops — but you can.”
By nature, Loren is an empath. She feels deeply, notices quickly, and senses struggle without being told. But experience taught her that empathy without boundaries can blur lines that leadership requires to stay clear.
“Understanding is essential,” she says, “but boundaries matter in business. Empathy has to be grounded.”
This balance — care without collapse, understanding without overreach — has become one of her greatest strengths.
“Power rooted in calm is the most beautiful feeling.”
Meaning, Legacy & the Human Experience
What Loren hopes people carry with them after working with her is simple: kindness, patience, and the knowledge that their success mattered.
“I want people to feel seen,” she says. “And to know their growth is important to me.”
Her understanding of success has softened with time. It’s no longer about being the best — it’s about doing her best. Learning something new each day. Teaching something meaningful. Helping others rise.
That is where she feels most successful.
If leadership had a heartbeat in this season of her life, Loren says it would sound like a meadow — cool breezes, the ocean roaring quietly in the distance. Patient and kind, yet firm when needed. Calm, but certain.
And the truth she wishes more leaders had permission to honor?
That we are human first.
Family, sickness, laughter, faith, mistakes, humor, imperfection — all of it belongs at work. Not as weaknesses, but as reminders of our shared humanity.
“We are all human,” she says. “And we can still do amazing things.”