Good business is built on love.
This February, I want to talk about the work of bestselling author and leadership consultant Steve Farber. In his newest book, Love is Just Damn Good Business, Steve presents a radical concept—that love is not just an important aspect of business, but is actually the foundation of business success.
In his groundbreaking work, Steve describes that when you embrace love in every element of your work, you begin to inspire people. You create a new outlook that affects everything and everyone around you.
In many ways, this idea is something we all innately know, deep down. We want our employees to love us. We want our customers to love us. We want our products and services to be loved. We want to love where we work and what we do. We want our brands to be loved by investors and stakeholders. In fact, you could say business is all about love.
Through his work, Steve taught me three things about love’s impact on business, success, and leadership:
- People do what their bosses tell them because they want to keep their job. But people contribute much more of themselves if they love the cause, the values, and the future the company is trying to create.
- Great leaders inspire people to do phenomenal things, not just get stuff done. That is why love is the foundation of great leadership.
- The deeper the love, the more committed we are to whatever it is we are trying to accomplish together.
Acknowledging the role love has in our work and taking responsibility for creating work environments we love, is an act of leadership. It’s a part of what I call having a Success Mindset, a set of skills, tools, and behaviors you practice to shift toward a definition of success that doesn’t leave out peace of mind, purpose, and joy.
What’s one thing you can do to bring more love into what you do all day long?
