An Evolving Man Podcast

Police Chief: From Ego to Emotional Intelligence: Dr. Ron Camacho on Leadership & Trauma | AEM #161

Dr. Ron Camacho · June 5, 2026

Author · Leadership · Executive Coach · Life Coachin

Interview with Dr. Ron Camacho

Police Chief: From Ego to Emotional Intelligence: Dr. Ron Camacho on Leadership & Trauma | AEM #161

Podcast: An Evolving Man Podcast

June 5, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min

Listen to Dr. Ron Camacho on An Evolving Man Podcast.

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Police Chief: From Ego to Emotional Intelligence: Dr. Ron Camacho on Leadership & Trauma | AEM #161

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Key topicsThe habits that make men look strong are often the ones quietly wrecking their livesRon can speak to the way anger, defensiveness, control, and ego often get mistaken for strength in men, especially in high-pressure environments where vulnerability is seen as weakness and pressure is constant. Drawing from his own life and leadership experience, he can unpack how those patterns damage marriages, careers, judgment, and self-respect long before most men are willing to admit there is a problem. It’s a powerful conversation for audiences interested in masculinity, discipline, leadership, and personal responsibility because it reframes self-awareness not as softness, but as the skill that keeps a man from becoming ruled by his own blind spots. The Man I Had to Stop BeingRon opens his book with an uncomfortable admission: early in his career, anger and ego shaped far more of his behaviour than he understood at the time. It was only when he began examining the trauma underneath those reactions, entering therapy and developing genuine self-awareness that he realised how much of what he had called strength was actually defensiveness. His story creates a powerful conversation about what it takes to look honestly at the person you have become, understand why you behave the way you do, and accept that lasting change begins long before anyone else can see it.Body Armor — Why the Toughness That Builds a Career Blocks Everyone in ItRon Camacho built his early leadership on toughness, control and never showing strain, and it worked, carrying him from SWAT command to chief of a 400-person agency. Most leadership advice treats that hardness as the cost of the job. Ron argues it is what makes a leader unreachable, because the same defensiveness that gets someone through a crisis stops anyone bringing them the truth. It took therapy, and a marriage close to ending, before he saw the pattern in himself. Listeners leave able to spot the moment their own toughness stopped protecting them and started keeping people out.View all topics →

About Dr. Ron Camacho

Leadership Expert | Author, Speaker & Executive Coach

30 years Career in policing400 Person police agency led4 Police departments servedGraduate FBI National Academy

Ron Camacho has spent three decades leading in some of the highest-pressure environments imaginable, but the work that defines his next chapter began with a much more personal challenge: confronting the role ego had played in his own life.

Early in his career, Ron built a version of leadership around toughness, control and relentless self-protection. It helped him rise quickly and take on significant responsibility, but it also came at a cost. Anger, defensiveness and unresolved trauma affected his relationships, his marriage and the way he moved through the world. What began as an attempt to save his marriage became a much deeper process of therapy, introspection and self-awareness - and ultimately a complete re-evaluation of what strength and leadership really mean.

That journey sits at the heart of Ron’s forthcoming book, which explores how ego quietly influences the way we lead, communicate, make decisions and respond when our identity or authority is challenged. Blending personal experience with decades of leadership at the highest levels of policing, Ron moves beyond theory to give readers practical tools for recognising and managing ego through self-awareness, journaling, feedback, mentorship, coaching, therapy and experiences that deliberately cultivate humility. His goal is simple: to help people see themselves more clearly and give them tangible tools they can use to change.

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About this episode

What happens when a leader confronts their own trauma?

In this fascinating conversation, Piers Cross sits down with Dr. Ron Kamacho, police chief, leadership consultant and author, to explore how emotional intelligence transformed his life and leadership.

Ron shares his journey from highly driven, ego-based leadership to a more compassionate, accountable and emotionally intelligent approach.

Together they discuss:

Childhood trauma and leadership The father wound and identity Emotional intelligence in policing Leadership under pressure Building healthy organisational culture Why ego destroys careers Self-awareness and introspection Compassion and accountability Mental health in law enforcement The future of leadership A deeply honest conversation about what it truly means to lead yourself before leading others.

Timestamps (1:03:25)00:00 Introduction to Dr. Ron Kamacho

02:05 Childhood trauma, policing and proving himself

07:30 Therapy, emotional intelligence and transformation

12:15 Leadership lessons from Afghanistan and Mexico

18:00 Humility, ego and personal growth

22:15 Leadership under pressure and SWAT experiences

28:10 Emotional regulation and self-awareness

33:20 Why leaders struggle with self-awareness

39:10 Growth mindset versus fixed mindset

43:45 Building culture through leadership

49:00 Ego kills careers

53:15 Accountability, compassion and leadership

57:30 Trauma, policing and mental health

01:01:00 Ron's book: Bringing Ego to the Forefront

01:03:25 Closing reflections

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

Guest: Dr. Ron Camacho