Lead with Love

Can you imagine if all leaders in every area of business, education, government and every sector, used the strategy to lead with Love. I recently did a training on Positive Leadership and one of the principles I have always used in my own leadership is to lead with love. I believe when we put people first, and we genuinely care about them, it creates this connection and sense of trust that endures all challenges. I have had leaders and mentors over the years, some of which lead with their hearts and genuinely cared, they to this day are an example to me. I have also had leaders, that did not truly lead with their hearts (even though they said they did), and their motives were self serving and while I thought that at the time, I know as a fact now that is the case, and they too are an example to me of who I do not want to be.

This spirit, this leadership approach can be applied to any area of your life (in addition to business). When we lead with love, we seek to listen, to better understand and to support those around us. Empathy is a trait that helps us support others in a compassionate way. Oprah shares that “leadership is empathy”, and to embrace that in your leadership style truly is about putting people first.

Emotional Intelligence is so important in leadership, and is the “secret sauce” when it comes to developing leaders, developing culture and creating strong team dynamics. At the end of the day, we all just want to be heard, we want to be valued and we want to surround ourselves with people that care, that have our backs and those we can count on to be positive, loving, caring and supportive.

Here are 10 things you can do to prepare yourself to lead with Love.

1. Personal Growth: Dedicate time each day to reading and/or writing positive content to inspire you, educate you and “fill your cup”. Leadership begins with you, and building your foundation and growth is essential to effectively leading others.

2. Mind/Body/Spirit: Exercise, eating good and all of these things help us feel our best. Create time each week so that you are feeding your body/mind/spirit, you are the vessel, and when you are healthy and grounded, you are able to serve others better. Also pray (or meditate), know that you are the co-creator and you are not alone.

3. Vision: Cast your vision, not only for what you want to create but also, who you want to be and how you want to make others feel. People want to follow someone that knows where they are going, that have a vision and seek to impact others positively in their journey.

4. Put Others First: This has to be the way you work with others when you are leading. It is always about them, their goals, and how you can serve them. It is a spirit and methodology in finding out what they want, and guiding them on how to get there.

5. Recognition: Recognize and praise others. This is a big part of leading with love, it is sharing the love. People work harder for praises than raises. This is so important and is a pillar in positive leadership and leading with love.

6. Breath Life: Breathe life into others. Build others up. Be that positive example, voice and builder. Your words matter, let them be positive, let them up lifting and be the person that believes in others, and cheers them on.

7. Self Love: You need to give yourself love, because without loving yourself it is difficult to love and serve others. Speak kindly to yourself (self talk is critical and course correct when you find yourself talking negatively.

8. Listen: Leaders are good listeners, learn to ask questions, learn to listen with empathy and compassion and seek to understand others.

9. Encourage: Lift others up, encourage, cast a vision for what is possible and share your belief in them.

10. Be Vulnerable: Vulnerability lets others see you and it shows those you lead that you have been in their shoes, and you are in fact a human. Humility is relatable and sharing your true self is okay, speak from your scars and not your wounds.

Love is the most powerful emotion and I believe that Love is our gift to the world. When we work with people and we want to help them grow, leading with our hearts, and caring about the people we lead is what is going to make our world a better place! XO