Love-Based Leadership in Action
Many executives today lead through fear to protect their power and influence. Or they’re closed off and distant from their team. Others lead with love, which entails connecting, caring, recognizing, appreciating, giving, forgiving, having fun, and more. Leading with love can be powerful and even transformative for organizations and the people in them. In recent articles, we covered “The Case for Love-Based Leadership” and “How to Bring Love-Based Leadership to Your Workplace.” Here we provide examples of love-based leadership in action, including: Our own experience with love-based leadership Practitioners on implementing love-based leadership in the workplace Experts and researchers on
How to Bring Love-Based Leadership to Your Workplace
Article Summary: Love-based leadership can be transformative for people and organizations. Here’s how leaders can bring it about in their workplace. +++ Our previous article, “The Case for Love-Based Leadership,” addressed the transformational power and many benefits of love-based leadership. Leading with love entails connecting, caring, showing compassion, recognizing, appreciating, giving, forgiving, having fun, and more. It’s closely tied to what researchers Sigal Barsade and Olivia O’Neill described as “a culture of companionate love—based on the degree to which employees express affection, caring, compassion, and tenderness towards each other.” Given the power of love-based leadership, with all its benefits, the
The Case for Love-Based Leadership
Article Summary: Love-based leadership can help transform ourselves and our organizations. It has many powerful benefits. +++ Love-based leadership belongs in our workplaces, but it’s not what we often think of as love. Love can mean different things. We can love our spouse or child, or a friend, or a book or film, and more. Different Types of Love Ancient Greek philosophers described several different types of love, including: Eros: romantic, passionate, intimate, or sensual love, potentially including sexual attraction and longing. Storge: natural or instinctual love, affection, or allegiance (e.g., of parents or family members but also of
The Four Types of People in Any Organization (Beware the Fourth)
I was co-captain of the soccer team and we were flailing. Things weren’t all bad. We had good players—some great—and were doing well in league matches. But for some reason this season, several players were rebelling against the coach. Perhaps some of it was resentment about the intense focus on fitness, with brutal sprinting drills and long runs. Many players strongly preferred more skill work and scrimmaging over fitness regimens. Maybe some of it was his aloof style, with formality and distance from the players. Some players thought they were better than the coach at knowing the game, reading the
What to Do If You Work for an Unethical Organization
Article Summary: Here we describe what you can do if you work for an unethical organization, including specific tips and actions. +++ What should you do if you work for an unethical organization? In a previous article, we outlined how to determine if you work for an unethical organization. In that article, we described toxic leaders and workplaces. We recapped many of the rationalizations leaders use for unethical behavior. We also included a checklist you can use to determine if you’re working for an unethical organization. If you find yourself working in such an organization, the critical question is what
Are You Working for an Unethical Organization?
Article Summary: Some organizations are unethical. Here we outline how you can determine if your organization is unethical. Our next article will outline what you can do about it. +++ How can you determine if you work for an unethical organization? No organization is perfect. All leaders are fallible. But some organizations are downright unethical, exhibiting a pattern of dishonest or corrupt behavior over time. These organizations repeatedly mistreat their stakeholders. If the organization knowingly harms people, animals, or the environment, it’s unethical. In an unethical organization, there are invariably multiple leaders crossing the line. Unfortunately, many organizations struggle with
Ethical Challenges Across Industries—Implications for You
Some industries are ethically dirty, with widespread corruption, while others are clean. Most are somewhere in between. What are the signs of ethical challenges in an industry—and what to do about it? Many industries get good marks overall, including consulting, education, electronics, health, nonprofits, and more. Other industries are known for having ethical challenges. Examples include aerospace and defense, financial services, construction, cosmetics, energy, mining/extraction, pharmaceuticals, private prisons, information and communications technology, tobacco, and transportation and storage. The point, of course, isn’t that all people and all companies in these industries are corrupt. Far from it. We believe that most
The Best and Worst Bosses: Implications for Leaders
Article Summary: Here we describe the worst bosses and the best bosses—and we suggest what can you do to become more like a best boss. “Bosses shape how people spend their days and whether they experience joy or despair, perform well or badly, or are healthy or sick. Unfortunately, there are hordes of mediocre and downright rotten bosses out there, and big gaps between the best and the worst.” -Robert I. Sutton, Stanford professor Many of us have had bad bosses. Unfortunately, it’s all too common. What makes them bad? Worst Bosses The worst bosses are often caught up
Renewing Yourself Amidst the Chaos
Article Summary: Wise leaders take the time for self-care through a regimen of daily activities, sanctuary, and retreats. The benefits of personal renewal for leaders are enormous, ensuring you’re living a good and meaningful life. +++ Many of us are so tied up in the chaos of our lives that we don’t take proper care of ourselves. We don’t eat healthy foods, get enough sleep or exercise, or take vacations. If we do take time off, we stay on the grid, bringing us right back into the swirl. The Negatives of Poor Self-Care Poor self-care leads to excessive stress,
How Ego and Pride Derail Leaders
Article Summary: If you think you don’t have a problem with your ego, watch out. That’s when leaders are at the greatest risk of losing their bearings and credibility. +++ Aristotle defined the “golden mean” as the desirable middle between the two extremes of excess and deficiency. For leaders, there’s an essential golden mean to find between the pridefulness of excessive ego and the timidity of excessive humility. Ego Our egos are part of our neuro-physiological systems that help protect our self-image and self-worth. The ego is the part of our conscious mind that defines our identity. Our egos
Character-Infused Leadership
Character should be the cornerstone of your leadership. “Great leadership is a product of great character.” -Abraham Lincoln The Future of Ethics Professor Corey Ciocchetti led a conference recently on “The Future of Ethics” at the University of Denver (DU). It was superb. His keynote address focused on “character-infused leadership.” The Daniels College of Business at DU is well known for its emphasis on ethics and values. The Chancellor of the university, Jeremy Haefner, and the Dean of the Daniels Business School, Vivek Choudhury, both spoke at the conference underscoring the primacy of ethics at their institution. Character
How Leaders Should Address the Unique Challenges of Our Times
It’s no secret that leadership can be brutally hard. Think of all the things that can lead to organizational breakdowns as well as all the derailers that inhibit our leadership effectiveness. Today’s Unique Challenges But that’s just table stakes. As if those problems weren’t already enough, today we have additional challenges unique to our times that make leading well even harder. For example, here’s a list of ten such challenges, just for starters: Severe market volatility and economic uncertainty, along with political dysfunction and geopolitical conflict Staff and supply shortages leading to bad customer service Challenges in keeping teams
A Tiger Team and Its Breakthrough—The Pathfinder
In our last post, we wrote about Tiger Teams–temporary special action teams created and empowered to attack problems and exploit opportunities. Bob first witnessed the power of alignment and flow with the Pathfinder team at Monarch Marking Systems. In the early 1980s, retailers were rapidly adopting bar codes to scan at checkout. Rather than fight bar codes, Monarch had decided to reinvent itself as a bar-code printing company. Monarch had just introduced a large, rather clunky, bar code printer, the size of a small desk, and the next logical step was to develop a smaller, tabletop version. Monarch’s vice
Ditch Frozen Structures for Tiger Teams
The vast majority of organizations today have a traditional hierarchical structure.* They may be organized by function, division, geography, or some other variable, but they’re hierarchical. Given their long history, it’s no surprise that hierarchies can be useful. Organizations, especially large and complex ones, need structure to avoid chaos. “Hierarchy works well in a stable environment.” -Mary Douglas, British anthropologist But there’s a problem. The Problem with Hierarchies Since we’re operating in a dynamic world with rapidly changing technologies and business models, such structures can become obsolete quickly. Traditional organizational structures place people in formal boxes which can limit
Getting Results with Steel or Velvet—A Critical Leadership Practice
Triple crown leaders—those seeking to build organizations that are excellent, ethical, and enduring—go beyond their natural leadership style, flexing between the hard edge of steel and the soft edge of velvet, depending on the situation and the people involved. (See our related article, “Steel and Velvet Leadership.”) They acknowledge their varying approaches referencing the organization’s shared values. This article dives deeper into getting results for your organization using steel and velvet. Getting Results with Velvet Leadership In velvet mode, triple crown leaders are coaches of their workers. They don’t micromanage their people. Instead, they leave their people free to
