LOVE ISN'T SOFT. LOVE IS THE STRATEGY.
Last week a leader asked me - How do I build a culture that feels inspired and called to make things with love? To do what they do, with love? To put our love to work?
It’s a great question.
It usually leads to a little back and forth around defining culture – values, behaviors, and standards.
Godin has a great line that sums up a culture - “People like us, do things like this.”
There’s so much in that sentence – affiliation, belonging, standards, identity, duty, pride, ownership.
So… the question to the question – how do I build a culture inspired to make things with love is …. If everything we made was made with love, what do we need to do? How would it feel? What would we need to believe? What would the standard need to be?
Well…. If love was in our products and services….
People would feel enrolled in a vision of something larger than themselves.
People would feel called to do their best work.
People would feel safe to experiment and try new things.
People would feel celebrated when they brought some level artistry or performance to their work.
People would believe they have something unique contribute.
People would feel in alignment with their purpose and their why.
They’d feel ownership….
And what’s the definition of ownership – when you’re prepared to leave a part of yourself in the work?
And oh my, when you’ve got folks enrolled in a compelling vision of the future, they feel safe to experiment. They have a deep belief that their contributions matter. And they are prepared to leave a part of themselves in the work….
You have the makings of a culture built to put love to work.
And when you do that you do two things… you help differentiate the business and you help humans find their advantage and stay relevant in the age of technology driven commoditization.
Because everything that isn’t made with love will be undervalued – under-appreciated and ultimately forgotten.
