Love Leadership

Where would you expect to find an article on love in your newspaper? An article that makes reference to Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King? How about the Careers section?

At the end of last week there was an article about a leadership consultant who works with organizations to create more loving environments. He isn't speaking about office romances or false sentimentality. What the consultant found was that despite the view of business as macho and tough-minded, the better work environments thrive when love exists. He discovered that "The best leaders were honest, forthright, authentic and principled."

This is in an interesting observation about love because it suggests that it is agape rather than eros that matters for healthy and authentic relationships in the workplace, despite what we see on Grey's Anatomy! Figuring out how to get the job done collaboratively and with mutual respect and support can be a challenge, but the dog-eat-dog approach ends up with someone being the dead dog. To quote from the Globe article:

Becoming what Mr. Cochlan calls a "love leader" doesn't mean you have to go around hugging your employees or even saying "I love you" aloud.
Rather, at the leadership level, you demonstrate love when you take care to protect the dignity of the people around you, he says, just as you would with family members.
"When you respect someone as an individual, they can feel it in the way you treat them, speak to them, regard them."
It's not about being soft, or giving in, he says. It's about always keeping in mind the fact that your co-workers are human beings deserving of your care and respect.

It has a gospel feel to me.