What's Love Got To Do With It?

Well, everything actually. Seems Jim Mullen's book has inspired a theme this week. It's a theme that also stood tall during my strategic communication and leadership graduate studies at Seton Hall. The best leaders, the best followers, best employees and best people for that matter are those who really care about what they do and who they serve.

My graduate program introduced me to dozens of scholars and executives who espoused their theories and practices on leadership. But in the end, the themes of caring, passion, and yes, even love were consistent among them. The more we care about what we do and about the people around us (colleagues, clients, friends, family, etc.), the better we lead and serve.

Years ago, one of my employees at the agency I owned in the mid to late 90's came to me and said that she was having difficulty securing a particular vendor to handle part of an important client event. I suspected it was more about the effort than the difficulty, so I simply suggested she imagine for a moment that she was planning this event for her parents and their friends and to give it one more try. Within the hour, problem solved. If you think about it, I simply asked her to care more. To imagine she was trying to achieve something for people she loved rather than a client with whom she did not have such emotional attachment.

When it comes to serving everyone in our lives, love can have everything to do with it.