Love Equals Sustained Profitability

I can see the men rolling their eyes already. We males are socialized to think that being tough, analytical, and detaching from our emotions are the greatest superpowers, but they aren’t. There’s plenty of research to show that consideration, or caring about your followers’ happiness, is by far the best predictor of success as a leader.

Some other words for consideration are love, approval, and nurturing. Most women are socialized to be better at nurturing than we men, and that’s why they are better natural leaders. Unfortunately, they also tend to be socialized to be deferential to men in our patriarchal society. All they need is a bit more assertiveness and it’s game over for their male competitors.

The most important kind of love is self-love. You’re with yourself 24/7, and you can make yourself happy or you can make yourself miserable. If you make yourself happy, then you have love/consideration to share with your followers, who share love with your customers, who share love back to you by giving you money and making you profitable.

The business literature is rife with examples of companies who mistreated/didn’t love their employees and customers and hurt the long-term profitability of their businesses. Think Enron, Arthur Anderson, Wells Fargo, etc. Once you make money more important than people your business will ultimately suffer in profitability. Ironic, right? Here are some examples of self-imposed profitability problems from my work:

·         A leader quickly grows a profitable business but then starts his implosion by becoming drunk on money and power to the detriment of his relationships.

·         A physician declares that she couldn’t care less about her relationships with her patients as long as they pay their bills.

·         A leader of a major transit agency treats his employees terribly, leading to his ultimate failure and removal.   

I don’t completely agree with John Lennon when he said, “All you need is love,” but it sure beats whatever is in second place for creating sustained business profitability. 

Don’t be a stranger. (770) 993-1129. tdockery@TheResolveFirm.com