Leadership not only requires love – it IS love

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

We believe that your future, and the future of business, depend on your capacity to LOVE.

Put very simply, great leadership not only requires love, it IS love.

When you love the people you lead, you create a powerful sense of belonging, in which others feel heard, included and valued. When you create this sense of belonging, you unleash the potential of each individual, which allows innovation, creativity and collaboration to thrive at your organization.

How can you, as a leader, create a sense of belonging on your team?

Let’s start by reflecting on your own experiences…

• Reflect back on a time when you felt like you really belonged within a group or team.
  • What did that feel like?
  • What was done (or not done) and said (or not said) that made you feel that way?
• If you can’t remember a time when you felt like you really belonged within a group or team, think of the opposite.
  • What did it feel like to not belong?
  • What was done (or not done) and said (or not said) that made you feel that way?

Based on what you came up with, choose one specific, tangible thing you will commit to doing today to create a sense of belonging for others and show some love for the people you lead. Perhaps you will:

• Slow down, ask curious questions of others, and listen at a deeper level (with the intention to understand, rather than respond).
• Notice when your ego gets in the way when you are in conflict with another person. Instead of seeking to protect and defend yourself and your position (which is the ego’s #1 job!), consciously seek to expand your own perspective by listening to and learning from the other person.
• Speak up when something is said or done that feels dismissive of or hurtful to someone else. In the words of Luvvie Ajayi Jones, “Stand up, and be the domino.”

Leading with love doesn’t require grandiose gestures.

You can lead with love by setting the intention to be kind to others and demonstrate it in small ways each and every day.

Sending you much love from the Dâ¤ï¸P,