Love – The greatest leadership tool – PART 4

Different measures of the same thing.

These are all gradations of the same thing – love for other people.

A hug.

Sharing some time.

A habit of positive feedback.

Recognizing a good job.

Encouraging words.

Being sure they have what they need.

A sincere interest in them personally.

Asking questions.

Acknowledging they are there.

A smile.

And…you never know what this leads to:

People stand with you in YOUR time of difficulty.

Getting invited to a party, picnic, or wedding.

Crying at funerals.

We’re not prescribing anything here. We’re just opening a dialogue that I suspect may strike at your heart.

To give it, you must have it.

Some of us are naturally open and caring. But I am an introverted disciplined Director, with a soft caring inside that’s not hard to access. We’re all different. Some are open, and some are self-contained. Some are direct, and some are indirect.

No matter what your style, you have to love yourself to love others. You have to be happy with you to be happy with others. You can’t give away what you don’t have. If you need to work on you, and get help doing so, do it. Your own self-acceptance, accepting your past, and loving who you are is important not only to this subject, but to the very meaning of life – to be happy.

Some would say this is irrelevant to being an entrepreneur or leader. But it’s not. Life and business are inseparable if your heart beats at work. You can’t be one kind of person and another kind of leader. People are always trying to figure out your true intention, especially your intention for them. If your intention is to “Do your job and you get paid” and that’s it – well that works for a while when people need a paycheck. But the best (and most) won’t stay just for a paycheck.