Leading with Love - The Key to Diversity & Social Justice
One of the most popular leadership concepts that I have been speaking to audiences about all across the country is the power of leading with love. Although I have placed more of an emphasis on this concept in the past six months than in years past, the actual concept of leading with love developed in me a few years ago when I had the opportunity to watch a leadership video on this concept created by leadership guru, Ken Blanchard. In the video, Mr. Blanchard describes that leading with love is treating people right, valuing the work of everyone connected to the business or organization, and leading with a heart of service. I like to use these concepts as I define the age old question - what is a leader. I believe a leader is someone who leads with a heart to make others around them better, make a difference in the lives of others, and make the world a better place. After learning about this concept of leadership, I have been interested in learning more about what it means to lead with love and how this concept of leadership could help me and others serve more effectively as leaders in the 21st Century.
After a couple of years of research and practice, I have developed a greater understanding of this leadership concept and discovered why many leadership experts who teach on this subject matter consider it one of the most powerful leadership concepts for leaders to possess in the 21st Century. I was also able to discover that one of the keys to helping people become more effective at leading and working with diverse groups of people more effectively in the 21st Century is being able to lead with love. Leading with love requires emerging and seasoned leaders to forgive others, treat everyone with respect, be patient, show compassion, make sacrifices, respect and embrace the differences of others, and have a heart that desires the best for everyone regardless of who they are. And ultimately, when a person leads with these types of characteristics, it automatically alleviates some of the negativity that causes people to fail at becoming men and women who are effective at working and leading different types of people.
Once I was able develop this understanding of love, I was able to grasp the concept intellectually, but was not able to fully see the power of this leadership concept manifest in the lives of emerging and seasoned leaders. It was not until I built upon the knowledge of Kenneth Blanchard and discovered two more key things about the power of leading with love. The first key thing I discovered is that leading with love is not based on feelings; it's a choice that you have to make. In essence, as a leader, you can lead with love if only you forgive, be patient with others, make sacrifices, and want the best for others regardless of how you feel on the inside. Unfortunately, because of this misconception many people fail to see the power of leading with love in their lives because they assume it's a feeling rather a choice.
The second key thing I discovered about this leadership concept is that the TRUE POWER of leading with love is most powerful when a leader chooses to lead with love although they may not feel like doing it at the time. In essence, the power of leading with love is not in the feeling, it's in the choice to lead with love when you really do not feel like forgiving others, being patient, making sacrifices, or treating people right when they have done something negative to you. A great example of this concept is the civil rights movement led by Dr. King and many others. I believe this is a great example because the men and women of this movement could have easily retaliated negatively for some of the things that were done to them, but their choice to march in non-violence regardless of their feelings about the oppression they were experiencing was one of the keys to success during this time.
Like Dr. King and many others great leaders from our past, if we choose to be more intentional about leading with love, we will not only evolve into more effective leaders in the 21st Century, but be able to make an incredible impact in areas that revolve around social justice, fairness, and equality!
After a couple of years of research and practice, I have developed a greater understanding of this leadership concept and discovered why many leadership experts who teach on this subject matter consider it one of the most powerful leadership concepts for leaders to possess in the 21st Century. I was also able to discover that one of the keys to helping people become more effective at leading and working with diverse groups of people more effectively in the 21st Century is being able to lead with love. Leading with love requires emerging and seasoned leaders to forgive others, treat everyone with respect, be patient, show compassion, make sacrifices, respect and embrace the differences of others, and have a heart that desires the best for everyone regardless of who they are. And ultimately, when a person leads with these types of characteristics, it automatically alleviates some of the negativity that causes people to fail at becoming men and women who are effective at working and leading different types of people.
Once I was able develop this understanding of love, I was able to grasp the concept intellectually, but was not able to fully see the power of this leadership concept manifest in the lives of emerging and seasoned leaders. It was not until I built upon the knowledge of Kenneth Blanchard and discovered two more key things about the power of leading with love. The first key thing I discovered is that leading with love is not based on feelings; it's a choice that you have to make. In essence, as a leader, you can lead with love if only you forgive, be patient with others, make sacrifices, and want the best for others regardless of how you feel on the inside. Unfortunately, because of this misconception many people fail to see the power of leading with love in their lives because they assume it's a feeling rather a choice.
The second key thing I discovered about this leadership concept is that the TRUE POWER of leading with love is most powerful when a leader chooses to lead with love although they may not feel like doing it at the time. In essence, the power of leading with love is not in the feeling, it's in the choice to lead with love when you really do not feel like forgiving others, being patient, making sacrifices, or treating people right when they have done something negative to you. A great example of this concept is the civil rights movement led by Dr. King and many others. I believe this is a great example because the men and women of this movement could have easily retaliated negatively for some of the things that were done to them, but their choice to march in non-violence regardless of their feelings about the oppression they were experiencing was one of the keys to success during this time.
Like Dr. King and many others great leaders from our past, if we choose to be more intentional about leading with love, we will not only evolve into more effective leaders in the 21st Century, but be able to make an incredible impact in areas that revolve around social justice, fairness, and equality!
