‘Leading While Human’ Wins Three First-Place BookFest Awards

Ralph Kellogg’s candid take on the human side of leadership earns top honors in three Business Leadership categories.

OMAHA, NE, UNITED STATES, November 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — For more than two decades, Ralph Kellogg led people in human resources while quietly carrying the anxiety he never let anyone at work see. In Leading While Human: Notes I Wish Someone Had Given Me, he writes about exactly that. The book has won three first-place awards from The BookFest, in the Leadership and Management, Professional Growth, and Psychology and Mindset categories.

The book isn’t a management manual. It’s a series of short letters, each built around a hard moment from his career. Walking into a room, certain he didn’t belong. Being expected to have every answer. Avoiding a conversation he knew he needed to have. He writes that compassion and accountability aren’t opposites, and that good leaders hold both.

Kellogg is chief human resources officer for Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska and a TEDx speaker who talks about the cost of silence at work. In the book, he writes plainly about living with anxiety and panic while holding senior roles, and about surviving a suicide attempt at nineteen, the kind of history he says the workplace taught him to keep hidden. His point is that the people we count on to lead are usually carrying more than they show, and that saying so is a strength.

Kellogg puts it plainly: “Leaders don’t need to be perfect. They need to be authentic, willing to walk into hard moments, and courageous enough to lead even when there isn’t a playbook.”

WHAT READERS AND REVIEWERS ARE SAYING

Early readers and reviewers keep coming back to the same word for the book: honest.

▪ “Honest, compassionate, and remarkably relatable, Leading While Human is less about becoming a better boss and more about becoming a more self-aware person.” — Cody Avery, The Thought Shelf
▪ “In an age where confidence is often mistaken for competence, this book reminds us that empathy, humility and self-awareness remain some of the most powerful leadership qualities of all.” – BookViral
▪ “It’s not a roadmap. It’s an opportunity to become more self-aware and perhaps a little more human in the way we lead.” — KPP, Amazon reviewer
▪ “Leading While Human is a unique book in a sea of management manuals.” — Charles Malumba, Amazon reviewer
▪ “Kellogg writes with a vulnerability that’s rare in this genre.” — Shantae Gordon, Amazon reviewer

“Leading While Human: Notes I Wish Someone Had Given Me” is available now in paperback and ebook at online retailers. More about the book and the author is available at https://ralphkellogg.com .

BOOK DETAILS and AVAILABILITY

Title: “Leading While Human: Notes I Wish Someone Had Given Me”
Author: Ralph Kellogg
Genre: Nonfiction, leadership, and personal development
Format: Paperback and ebook
ISBN-13: 979-8-31783-212-4 (paperback); 979-8-31783-213-1 (ebook)
Publisher: BookBaby
Publication date: May 12, 2026
Available: at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ralph Kellogg is a human resources executive, award-winning author, speaker, and executive coach who believes the strongest leaders bring both courage and compassion to their work. As Chief Human Resources Officer for Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, he helps leaders navigate the complex realities of workplace culture, employee well-being, and accountability.

In his book, “Leading While Human: Notes I Wish Someone Had Given Me,” Kellogg draws on his professional experience and personal journey to remind readers that leadership doesn’t require perfection. It requires authenticity, a willingness to have difficult conversations, and the courage to move forward when there isn’t a playbook.

The book received three first-place BookFest awards in the Business Leadership categories of Leadership and Management, Professional Growth, and Psychology and Mindset. Ralph also serves as an adjunct instructor at Bellevue University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha and works with nonprofit organizations as an HR consultant. He holds the SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications. Learn more at https://ralphkellogg.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphkellogg/

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