Love will keep us alive!

Today being Valentine’s Day, the radio was full of love songs. When I listened to the Eagles song with the above title, this morning, I decided it was a perfect time to blog on leadership and love. The Eagles produced a great love song in 1994, and the lyrics goes as;
“I was standing, All alone against the world outside
You were searching, For a place to hide
Lost and lonely, Now you’ve given me the will to survive
When we’re hungry, Love will keep us alive.”

Leadership could cause people to say this about their lives too. Good leadership could keep everybody alive and make them love what they do. Love leadership is a philosophy of leadership based on Biblical (agape) love. The primary tenet is that leaders should love those they serve as leader. Love leaders work toward ideal relationships in which leaders and follower exhibit Biblical love for one another.
Love leaders maintain a foundation of character and integrity. They build relationships based on trust. Trust can be defined as a willingness to accept the judgment and decisions of another person. Trust cannot be maintained in a relationship that lacks integrity (Wikipedia).

Look around and you would agree that all of us can do better, if management is based on love and trust. We could do with  “a new way to lead in a fear-based world.” Most of our leaders try fear based tactics, most of our incentives are fear-based. This we can change.

To our leaders the following lyrics also may make sense;
“Don’t you worry, Sometimes you’ve just gotta let it ride
The world is changing, Right before your eyes.”

If the world is changing, should I join the rat race or let it ride. As a leader, are you willing to allow yourself to see how your actions affect others?  Are you open enough, as a leader, to make a choice right now to lighten another’s load and allow them some ease? Your choice can cause someone to lose sleep.  What would it take for you to feel the consequences of your choices?  What would it take for you to see employees as humans and treat them accordingly.

This by no means is about saying ‘yes’ for everything or not disciplining people or even not holding people accountable. We do all this because we love what we do and are shaping our people’s behavior and their future. Don’t stop!