Leadership & Love

We can do both.

Lead Well and Love.

Love what we do, love the people we lead.

Love and take care of ourselves as leaders.

I’ll never forget being told very firmly by a CEO that love had no place in describing company values.

🤔 Really?

I respectfully disagree.

Love is the strongest force for good on this planet.

And it can truly be a super-power.

When harnessed in the right way.

In a world of workplaces where burnt-out, busy but brilliant executives find themselves so disconnected from their own needs and purpose that they can’t possibly find ways to support the growing and near crisis level of disengagement from within their own teams, I do believe we must find a better way.

Now.

We need to start a new conversation and make intentional steps towards change. It doesn’t start with a wellbeing strategy first; it starts with getting the foundations right first.

Here’s some things you could think about today, that may help you and your people thrive, not just be in survive mode until the weekend.

And yes, maybe obvious things, but are you doing them?

✅ Clarity- doing fewer things better as a team or as a business. And being clear about what they are, how they impact you and how you will measure them. No one wants to be a busy fool, being at the mercy of this week’s executive kneejerk dance move.

✅ Flexibility and flow- your workday may not look the same as mine. Your priorities and how and when you do your best work may not be the same as mine. When new people join, or when you want to truly support your existing team, try setting expectations based on output, not presence. They’d probably like that more than a company mug, slightly dubious branded t-shirt or a fruit bowl in the canteen.

✅ Ditch useless meetings.  How many meetings do we really need? If you’re calling them just to keep updated on what your team are doing, or touch base with what’s happening in the business, go have a long look at yourself in the nearest mirror. Do an audit, work out where time can be better spent getting stuff done, rather than talking about the thing that you still can’t get done, because you are stuck in useless meetings. Your job as a leader is to set direction, create the right conditions for people to do their best and then get out of the way.

✅ Adulting. See all the above points. Trust, building a culture of listening, trusting your teams to be the experts because you’ve done your job in setting them up to succeed. Allowing people to learn from mistakes. Not micro-managing. Holding people firmly, fairly and kindly to account. Allowing yourself to admit you're human too.  All these things can help foster a collaborative, connected and innovative team, even if you are not always physically together.

✅ Rest + Recovery. Take a break. Eat some lunch. Go for a walk. Have a holiday. Make time to chat to your colleagues about non-work stuff. And most importantly encourage your team to do the same. Burnout isn’t funny, it will kill your business (and possibly you) if you let it creep in and busy is not a badge of honour. Say that last bit to yourself again. It just makes us look like we don’t care- about our own needs or those of the people we are responsible for.

What would you add to this list? I’d love to know.