Twelve reasons we need love at work

Via Love At Work

Twelve reasons we need love at work:

Because....

• Otherwise narcissism, control, domination, unhealthy competition, selfishness, isolation, suspicion, and mistrust will dominate our work-life experience.

• Leadership without love dehumanizes and trivializes people.

• Justice is possible in the workplace only through love.

• Love releases energy, and employees deserve to have energy left over at the end of the day for their partners, their kids and their communities.

• Love is the only antidote to our individualism, consumerism and narcissism.

• As substantive research shows, loving relationships are one of the vital cures to our current epidemics of mental illness, heart disears and cancer.

• Love unlocks emotional engagement, the source of discretionary effort that produces spectacular results.

• Love grows us into mature human beings able to create a better world.

• Love scratches our itch to make a difference through our work.

• Love achieves mastery, since you cannot master anything without passion.

• Love enables us to understand each other.

• Love can create a sustainable planet.

Love at Work

Whenever you find a culture

where results are humming, 

values are working, 

and people are energized,

you will find 

Love At Work 

~ Brady G Wilson

Encouraging a new vocabulary at work

"The inherent language of the corporate workplace is far too small for us now. It has too little poetry, too little humanity, and too little good business sense for the world that lies before us. We only have to look at the most important word in the lexicon of the present workplace - manager - to understand its inherent weakness. Manager is derived from the old italian and French words mannegio and manege, meaning the training, handling and riding of a horse....images of domination... and the taming of potentially wild energy. It also implies a basic unwillingness on the part of the people to be managed, a force to be collared and reined in.....most people don't respond very passionately or creatively to being ridden... Sometimes over the next fifty years or so, the word manager will disappear from understanding of leadership... It is the artist in each of us we must now encourage into the world, whether we have worked for Getty Foundation or for Getty Oil" - 
- David Whyte

Leading an Awesome life

Via Neil Pasricha's talk at TED on The  3 A's of Awesomeness

.............there are so many things to be happy about. We are the only species on the only life-giving rock in the entire universe, that we've ever seen, capable of experiencing so many of these things. I mean, we're the only ones with architecture and agriculture. We're the only ones with jewelry and democracy. We've got airplanes, highway lanes,interior design and horoscope signs. We've got fashion magazines, house party scenes. You can watch a horror movie with monsters. You can go to a concert and hear guitars jamming. We've got books, buffets and radio waves, wedding brides and rollercoaster rides. You can sleep in clean sheets. You can go to the movies and get good seats. You can smell bakery air, walk around with rain hair, pop bubble wrap or take an illegal nap.

We got all that, but we only got 100 years to enjoy it. And that's the sad part. The cashiers at your grocery store, the foreman at your plant, the guy tailgating you home on the highway, the telemarketer calling you during dinner, every teacher you've ever had, everyone that's ever woken up beside you, every politician in every country,every actor in every movie, every single person in your family, everyone you love, everyone in this room and you will be dead in a hundred years. Life is so great that we only get such a short time to experience and enjoy all those tiny little moments that make it so sweet. And that moment is right now, and those moments are counting down, and those moments are always, always, always fleeting.

You will never be as young as you are right now.And that's why I believe that if you live your life with a great attitude, choosing to move forward and move on whenever life deals you a blow, living with a sense of awareness of the world around you,embracing your inner three year-old and seeing the tiny joys that make life so sweet and being authentic to yourself, being you and being cool with that, letting your heart lead you and putting yourself in experiences that satisfy you, then I think you'll live a life that is rich and is satisfying, and I think you live a life that is truly awesome.

Five Fundamental Laws of Leadership

[Via John Hope Bryant's book - Love Leadership]

Love Leadership distills what I have learnt about leading, particularly in these turbulent times, into five fundamental laws.

1. Loss Creates Leaders: There can be no rainbow without a storm. That is, there can be no strength or inner growth without the pain of legitimate suffering. Most great leaders came to the wisdom to lead through the endurance of life's trials.

2. Fear Fails. Fear based leadership rules today's business landscape. But leading through fear is increasingly antiquated and self-defeating. It's a crippling indulgence that we can no longer afford.

3. Love Makes Money. Love is central to success in business. In fact, the expression of love in business - that is creating long term relationships with your customers, employees, and community based on caring for others and doing good - makes you wealthy.

4. Vulnerability Is Power. When you open up, people open up to you. Vulnerability is the door to your heart. It grants great power to those who are strong enough to leave that door open. Real leaders understand that vulnerability is not a weakness; in fact, it can be your greatest strength.

5. Giving Is Getting. Leaders give - followers take, The more you offer to others, the more they will want to stay with you, share with you, protect you, and support you. Giving inspires loyalty, attracts good people, confers peace of mind, and lies at the core of true wealth.

This is a book I am waiting to read. Wonder when and if they would publish it in India.

One Part Humility and One Part Ambition

[Via Leader to Leader Journal, "Are you Humbitios enough to lead? ]

“Humbition is one part humility and one part ambition,” they wrote. “We notice that by far the lion’s share of world-changing luminaries are humble people. They focus on the work, not themselves. They seek success—they are ambitious—but they are humbled when it arrives. They know that much of that success was luck, timing, and a thousand factors out of their personal control. They feel lucky, not all-powerful. Oddly, the ones operating under a delusion that they are all-powerful are the ones who have yet to reach their potential. . . . [So] be ambitious. Be a leader. But do not belittle others in your pursuit of your ambitions. Raise them up instead. The biggest leader is the one washing the feet of the others.”

Empathy and Leadership

Via Bob Sutton, a wonderful post on teaching and empathy, John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla says:

When I think in terms of helping people learn to be even better, it automatically puts me into an empathetic mode (because teaching, fundamentally, is about understanding where the learner is coming from).

...the best bosses seem to keep asking themselves: “Why am I doing this? Is it because I am on an ego trip and trying to get more goodies and glory for myself?  Or is it really the best thing for enhancing my people’s collective performance and humanity?”

When bosses can honestly answer the question with a “yes” (and peers, bosses, and followers concur with their assessment), good things happen.  People do good work. They experience dignity and pride in each other. 

 and Bob goes on to ask the question,  

What do you think of this view of leadership?  Does it strike you as right?  Or is it too idealistic?


I think John is demonstrating what Leadership is all about. All these qualities - empathy, helping others, listening to others, patience, humility, looking at oneself critically, comes only one is in deep touch with oneself. That is when love blossoms and reflects in all our actions.

The Leadership Chicken and Egg

Jane Perdue of The Braithewaite Group writes in her blog, "Life, Love and Leadership":

I’m fond of saying great leaders think more about we and less about me. While I firmly believe that’s generally true, I also think aspiring leaders must first focus on themselves, getting firmly grounded in their own emotional intelligence if they are to be successful at leading others.

Business and Spirituality

[Via The Art of Living Foundation]

Below are the excerpts from Sri Sri’s talk at the Business, Ethics & Spirituality discussion sponsored by the University of Southern California.

In the panel discussion, Sri Sri was joined by John Paul Dejoria, a first generation American-turned-enterpreneur, philanthropist, government officer and an integral part of the business community; and Rob Dyrek, a professional skateboarder, television star, filmmaker, enterpreneur and multi-faceted philanthropist.


Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A few years ago, it was not considered appropriate for someone spiritual to be in a business setting. Business and spirituality, or business and charity appeared to be poles apart. Essentially, business is to give less and take more. If a banana is worth ten cents, it will be sold for twelve. You take more and you give less in business. However, charity is to give more than you take.

The backbone of business is trust. If trust is broken, business cannot succeed. Greed kills the consciousness. That’s what we saw with the financial crisis. To prevent this, it is essential for companies like John Paul Mitchell Systems to grow. Paul Mitchell is an example that shows that an individual need not be unethical to be rich and successful.

Corruption is the greatest dilemma in the world. Africa has no money to feed its people, yet there are billions in the bank accounts of corrupt politicians. How can the world be so blind to countries where there is such suffering and famine? When we raised this issue in the European Parliament, the office holders said they would send the money back to the African people. Corruption only happens out of a sense of non-belongingness. No one can be corrupt towards the people they belong to. We need to bring a sense of belongingness to every individual. How can that happen? When the mind is stress-free. A stress-free mind is the source of love. We must foster a sense of belongingness that cuts across the prejudice of nationalities and religions. The Art of Living Foundation have such a wide range of programs, so that people can learn how to cultivate a sense of belongingness.

We need to care and share. There have been earthquakes in Haiti, China and elsewhere. Today, businesses are helping out. America is at the forefront in providing aid. You should really congratulate yourselves.

There is a story I want to share. There was an earthquake in Gujarat many years ago. Our volunteers went to work there. They met an elderly lady who had gone to the temple and on her return found that she had lost everyone in her family. She had lost her sons, daughter-in-law and husband. Her home had crumbled. She had only a little amount in her purse which she wanted to give as a donation. Our volunteers refused her donation and said that they had come to give and not take. She said, “Nature has taken everything away from me. Don’t take away my right to give as well. Please accept my contribution, it is my dharma.” Our volunteers had tears in their eyes. When you have and you share, it is not a big deal. When you don’t have and you share, then that is something.


Q: Please speak about wealth.


Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: As per the ancient scriptures, there are eight types of wealth. Wealth is not only money. Of course, bank balance is wealth, progeny is also a type of wealth, so is health. If you have the confidence that you can create wealth in any situation, even when the economy is not doing well, you will have courage. That courage and confidence is a wealth. The ability to make friends is a wealth. Knowledge is also wealth.

The goddess of wealth, Laxmi, is floating on the lotus. She moves with the wind. The Goddess of knowledge, Saraswati, is on a rock. A rock is stable. Once you have learnt knowledge, you have learnt it for life. Wealth is not an end in itself. It is the means to an end. Wealth, happiness and life are to be shared with all those around.

Today, many people have lost faith. When you lose faith, it takes you within. Every crisis is an opportunity. When all doors are shut and you have nowhere to go, that is when you go within.


Many hurdles and crises come, but you must keep your intention strong. You have to have vision. When you look around, people who break your trust will be few. Those whose values falter will be few. Though sometimes you may shake, but hold on to your vision and mission.

If you don’t want others to cheat you, why should you cheat others? Money is essential, yet you cannot sleep well having only money. Half our health is spent on getting wealth and then we spend half our wealth to get back the health.


Q: How do you define success?


Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Success is measured by the smiles you have had from the heart. It is the confidence you have to face challenges. When everything goes well you can easily smile. Success is when everything falls apart and yet you can smile. One who manages all challenges that life gives is successful.

Q: Can business be a force to promote peace between nations?


Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Three dimensions will bring peace. There should be spirituality in politics, corporate social responsibility in business and secularism in religion.

This is deeply ingrained in our minds. Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are examples of secularism in religion and spirituality in politics.


© The Art of Living Foundation
For Global Spirituality

Vineet Nayar and the Employee First Philosophy

The Corner Office interviews Vineet Nayar. He talks straight and I love the candidness, it takes courageous leadership to do a 360 and make it available to all within the organization. How I would love to peep in and see how this works. And stumbled upon his blog on HCL's website. BTW, does anyone has his email id?

Q. But so many C.E.O.’s are expected to have all the answers.
A. Most C.E.O.’s are not as great as they’re believed to be. There are exceptions. There is Bill Gates. There is Steve Jobs. There is Larry Page. But I’m not one of them, and so many of us are not them.
So, if you see your job not as chief strategy officer and the guy who has all the ideas, but rather the guy who is obsessed with enabling employees to create value, I think you will succeed. That’s a leadership style that evolved from my own understanding of the fact that I’m not the greatest and brightest leader born. My job is to make sure everybody is enabled to do what they do well. This is part of our “Employees First” philosophy.
Q. Talk more about how you create that culture.
A. You have to create a culture of pushing the envelope of trust. How do we push the envelope of trust? By creating transparency.
Q. Give me an example.
A. All HCL’s financial performance information is on our internal Web. We are completely open. We put all the dirty linen on the table, and we answer everyone’s questions on our internal Web site. We inverted the pyramid of the organization and made reverse accountability a reality.
So my 360-degree feedback is open to 50,000 employees — the results are published on the internal Web for everybody to see. And 3,800 managers participate in an open 360-degree and the results — they’re anonymous so that people are candid — are available on the internal Web for those who gave feedback to see. So, that’s reverse accountability.
The other thing we did was make sure everybody understands that the C.E.O. is the most incompetent person to answer questions, and I say this to all my employees very openly.
Q. How do you communicate that?
A. One thing I learned was to communicate in extremes. So I asked myself, how do I communicate to employees to not look up to me, but to look within, to communicate that I’m one of you, to destroy that hierarchy? So I decided I’m going to go into this big gathering of employees dancing to a very famous Bollywood song. And I can’t dance for nuts, right? I was dancing in the aisles with these employees and making lots of noises. What happened? It completely destroyed the gap.
I’ll give you one more example with the way we handle business planning. So, what is the absolute power of the C.E.O? You come and make a presentation to me about what you’re going to do, and I will sit in this chair God has given to me and tell you if I like the plan or not. The power of the hierarchy flows from the fact that I will comment on what you write.
As my kids became teenagers, I started looking at Facebook a little more closely. It was a significant amount of collaboration. There was open understanding. They didn’t have a problem sharing their status. Nothing seemed to be secret, and they were living their lives very openly, and friends were commenting on each other and it was working.
Here is my generation, which is very security-conscious and privacy-conscious, and I thought, what are the differences? This is the generation coming to work for us. It’s not my generation.
So we started having people make their presentations and record them for our internal Web site. We open that for review to a 360-degree workshop, which means your subordinates will review it. Your managers will read it. Your peers will read it, and everybody will comment on it. I will be, or your manager will be, one of the many who read it. So, every presentation was reviewed by 300, 400 people.