Leading With Love

Reference blog post “The Greatest Leaders Love…Others.” published 28 Apr 2013.

Leader magnifying glass“All you need is love” sang the Beatles. Love must be one of the most sought-after, and least understood, many-spledoured thing in human experience. Just listen to all the confusion in songs about love! Puppy love, real love, tough love, never-ending love – the list goes on. Yes, many people would give a lot because they, too, sing “I want to know what love is” as well.

Much of what is called “love” has to do with “getting”. “Gimme, gimme, gimme…” as they say. There is nothing wrong with desiring to gain something, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to gain more love, more affection, whatever you call it, because we are designed both to give and crave love. However, many people today have a rather narrow view of love. When people with a narrow view of love become leaders, the manner in which they lead will also reflect their understanding of love, or the lack thereof. Leading with love has very little to do with getting what you want, or think you need. Leaders leading with love are energized by the act of giving of themselves to the service of others. Leaders who love are enthusiastic about their followers rising up to be greater than themselves. Leaders who love take care of their followers as though their followers were their own children. Leaders who love lay their lives down for their followers. Not simply being willing to die for their sakes, but to live life sacrificially for their benefit.

Leaders who love do not hesitate in punishing wilful disobedience. They sometimes endure pain and anguish by allowing their hard-headed subordinates to experience the consequences of insisting on their own ways. Leaders who love bring up their followers to be tough in fibre, robust in constitution, fit and ready to thrive in life. So many people think that loving leaders should not allow their followers to suffer unnecessarily. They are right, of course. Loving leaders would never dream of allowing their followers to suffer unnecessarily. They allow their followers to suffer as much as is necessary so that they will not need to bleed later on. Leaders who love do not allow their staff to undergo training that is unnecessarily hard and tough. They ensure that the training for their staff is as hard as possible so that they will become excellent in what they do!

When all is said and done, Leaders who love seek no accolades for themselves. They seek merely the success of those they serve. Especially those under them.

Know any leaders who love? Are you one of them?

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