Are love and leadership complementary?

During a recent workshop I found myself involved in an interesting discussion: should love be considered an essential element of Leadership? It is from that discussion that I am inspired to write this article. Talking “love” in this context I indeed refer to the ancient Greek term Filia used in classical philosophy to mean family-parental love and friendship. Why do I deem this question interesting for us today? First of all because Leadership, by definition, has to do with relationships between people, whom the leader is supposed to “lead somewhere”. Therefore we are interested in the attitude with which the leader performs such task, since that will affect the results. The question is even more relevant if we consider that one of the main functions of Sustainable Leadership is to foster the development of the people we lead and the full expression of their human potential.

Let’s start considering the “attitude” issue: it is obvious that organizations pursue productivity, seen as the outcome of their processes and the use of resources that they do. This applies both for profit and no-profit organizations and either for those producing goods and those delivering services.

A simple formula for Productivity is P=AxM, where “A” are the abilities and “M” stands for motivation. Therefore, a person with a lot of ability but little motivation will be hindered in its productivity by the second factor in the equation. The reverse applies too. The goal of maximum productivity of an organization cannot be achieved irrespective of the motivation of its people. Moreover, while abilities, i.e. technical skills, can be developed by ordinary training, motivation implies immaterial factors that are not easily rationalized, acquired and implemented. They have to do with the emotional aspects of work, with the internal climate of the workplace, with the clarity and degree of sharing of vision of its leaders, with the capacity of the latter to engage everyone of their people into the quest to achieve the common objectives.

The most recent neurological and behavioural science tells us that the assumption that Man should be driven by self-interest is false, whereas among the main drivers of human behaviour are equity, cooperation, altruism. Such elements are expressed through non-rational, emotionally influenced behaviour, the so-called “Bounded Rationality”.

A careful observation of the human brain’s structure also tells us that equity and altruism are more natural attitudes for a human being than selfishness and individualism. This, of course, is when we are not influenced by cultural elements like we are, and heavily, in our society.

We are indeed naturally inclined to cooperate with our kin and we also have extremely effective sensors that detect any violation of equity and respect for the social rules of our group. The authenticity of a leader is cross-checked thousands of times a day by his/her collaborators, be that they tell anything about it or not. What they find has an enormous influence on their motivation.

It is love for one’s work, passion for the daily effort to improve the life of one’s community, not just one’s own, that generates around the leader the vortex of energy that takes everyone in the team to give their best, even in times of difficulties

An interesting research by T. Terez (1997) revealed that affection for a job, function of the motivation that is found in it, lies in a feeling of purpose (meaningful work) described differently by different subjects but whose most frequent definitions are: a feeling of being useful, of belonging, of unity, an orientation to build strong human relations. How could such elements be transferred without love?

Only a Leader who is really passionate about his/her job – and who loves his/her people – can be the inspiring role-model who, for instance, the EFQM excellence framework highlights as one of the key enablers of the best performances.

Without love, with only “technical” knowledge, every encouragement by the leader will sound false, like a cracked bell, and will have no propulsive energy for motivation, i.e. productivity, of his/her collaborators.

We are close to the concept of the Servant Leadership, developed in the Seventies by R.K. Greenleaf, although back in 1925 M. K. Gandhi already indicated to the Indian Congress members the ethical motto that should inspire their mandate: “He ever gives, never wants service”. Therefore, to close the circle on this first aspect of the connection between love and Leadership regarding productivity let’s consider that both experience and scientific research demonstrate that the best way to motivate one’s team to give the best is to love one’s job and the people under one’s responsibility.

Let’s now see the second aspect: fostering the growth, the personal development of the Leader’s collaborators, i.e. the complete expression of their human potential. This is the keystone of an organization free of structural violence. Fostering the expression of someone else’s potential can only be achieved through openness, respect and an empathic attitude towards that person. This is, indeed, Filia.

It is an attitude of such kind, oriented to friendship and human brotherhood, that brings curiosity to know the other, help to unveil what is perhaps still hidden or latent in a collaborator’s potential and at any cost help bring it out. This is the dimension of “ever giving” that Gandhi was calling for and it is the same elicited by Adriano Olivetti in his speech to Pozzuoli’s plant workers in the inauguration day:

“For this very reason one day this plant, if the material and moral premise around the ends of our work is upheld, will be part of a new and authentic civilization aiming at a more free, happy and conscious expression of the human being”.

The extraordinary results obtained by Olivetti in Adriano’s times were the best demonstration that when there is love for the people one works with, then their best qualities emerge and the potential becomes actual energy translating into innovation, genius, excellence. Adriano Olivetti can be still considered an unmatched role-model and inspiration for all Leaders and Entrepreneurs in the world.

Love is thus the desire to help our neighbor set free from the chains that are limiting him/her in order to walk a step further in the development of consciousness and do that with the certitude that his/her improvement will also improve our condition.

It is then clear that a true Leader has to demonstrate ethical qualities that transcend even traditional morals, towards a trust in the human being and in its infinite possibilities of doing good. In fact to be a Leader is not a matter of graduating from some prestigious Business School: it is about loving the people that you are responsible for leading and help them become in-dependent and autonomous, partners in the creation of a new reality and of shared value. Everyone will then bring to the common cause the best of his/her big or little talent, entirely manifested.

Great Leaders are those who create more Leaders, until every member of the organization is a Leader, first of all of his/herself, manifesting in every moment his/her best to bring the best contribution possible to the common cause. This, again, can be achieved only when one loves – remember: in the sense of Filia – his/her collaborators, wishes their good – like for one’s kith and kin – and a common objective is clear for all.

Here is again an excerpt of Adriano Olivetti’s speech at Pozzuoli, expressing the values of such Leadership:

“Our Company believes in spiritual values, in the values of science, in the values of the arts, in the values of culture, we finally believe that the ideals of justice cannot be considered extraneous to the conflicts between capital and labor that are still present. Most of all we believe in the human being, in its divine spark, in its possibility of elevation and redemption”.

These last words tell us about the inner strength needed to move beyond liking and disliking the individual, working on oneself to unleash the capacity to meet any of one’s collaborators without prejudice and barriers that is typical of the great Leaders. Every single person must be supported in their liberation of the potential. Loyalty to the organization  will be the outcome of their gratitude, as well as a continuous contribution to the common wellbeing even in the case that the person leaves the organization in the future. Finkelstein’s research on the “Super Bosses” is a great testimony of this.

Finally I feel that we may conclude that the marriage between love and Leadership can do but good to the latter, allowing it to unleash its full potential. It is in the interest of the Leader to take the attitude of giving that is typical of Filia in order to receive more from his/her collaborators in the effort to achieve the objectives of the organization or of the team he/she leads.

As a last contribution to your reflection I have selected a little bibliography and, if you wish to discuss specifically how to bring more love into your Leadership just email me directly and we’ll find the way which is best for you and your organization.

Essential Bibliography:

– Axelrod A., Gandhi CEO, New York, NY, Sterling, 2010.

– Finkelstein S., Managing yourself – Secrets of the Superbosses –  Harvard Business Review, Jan – Feb. 2016.

– F. Fioretto (2015), Sustainable Leadership. The CASE© method: transforming conflicts through communication, Molfetta, la meridiana.

– F. Fioretto (2015), It’s Good Business to do Good with Business, II Ed. ebook, Molfetta, la meridiana.

– Olivetti A., Ai Lavoratori, Roma/Ivrea, Comunità Editrice, 2012

– Tideman S.G. et al., Sustainable Leadership: towards a workable definition, Journal of Corporate Citizenship, n. 49, March 2013.