“If your leadership is truly grounded in love, you’ll always land in the category of a good leader.” ― Glenn C. Stewart
When you think about leadership, what comes to mind? Hard work, efficiency, getting things done, business, revenue, profit, branding, marketing?
Of course, these are all vital components of any successful Team. Do you know what the most important asset is to be an influential leader producing more leaders? The most important thing is LOVE. Yes, love. You can have genuine love for your team and those you lead without sacrificing any goals of your organization. I’m not talking about warm, fuzzy, and tingly feelings of love, but the kind of love that allows your people to be imperfectly human, like the kindness of noticing that a team member is having a bad day or feeling overwhelmed with the pressures of his/her life, and you are there to help in a time of need.
If we are honest with ourselves as leaders, we will understand that people have real problems in life outside of work, whether it’s financial, health, marital, family, legal, etc. It’s a common thread that we all share regardless of what we do for a living. The reality is, sometimes these issues might interfere with work. If people are not handled with care, it can add more stress and pressure to their life and cause morale to decrease and performance to suffer. Sure, there’s always the concern about striking the right balance between professionalism and being personable or caring. With the right boundaries in place, showing genuine concern or compassion for the people we lead will not diminish your respectability or reputation as a strong leader, but it will instead bring out the best in them while fostering an environment that is conducive to thrivin!!
You will hear me say this all the time because it is true. Without people, there is no organization. So when our people thrive, the organization thrives. Showing love is not a license for our team to be incompetent. Please do not get me wrong there. You have to evaluate each case as it comes to light. If you have a Team member that was crushing it at one point, and then slides into a rut with their performance, there is a very likely chance that they are going through something that you do not need to lead them through, but love them through. Leadership is love! Sometimes it’s tough love, but even the toughness is rooted in love! This conveys that their job performance is not the only thing that matters to us as leaders. They matter more. Intimacy rules because if you’ve invested the time, emotion and positive energy into building an intimate relationship with your team, you will have demonstrated commitment and your passion will shine through!
A few key takeaways about love in leadership
- Genuinely know and care about your people (and their families too).
- Be passionate about what you do.
- Be committed to your team’s well-being and the task at hand.
That’s it! It’s not that difficult even… Do these things and your team will know confidently and deeply that you love them and care about their well-being, and you’ll be a stronger and more effective leader!
Guess what? I absolutely LOVE my Team…