Bringing love into business
Summary: There is a beautiful trend emerging, one in which it’s okay to recognize in business and branding that we are all human beings, that we all want to love and be loved, and that it is good and appropriate to view a business as an opportunity to create love. Could you have used the word ‘love’ in business fifteen years ago? I think not, and what a relief it is that the times are a-changin’.
Is it possible? Could it be that it’s finally mainstream to admit that we’re actually human beings in the context of the business world? Can we confess that we love to love, hate to hate, and yearn to connect at the deepest level possible?
We all do. We are human beings. We are fragile yet indomitable. We are surprisingly surprised when we discover that others share our immense need to be moved, to free our souls, to release our true selves—I say ’surprisingly’, because who doesn’t want to connect emotionally?
The great news is the trend, over the past several years, towards acknowledging this more spiritual aspect of ourselves in business and branding, an arena that had traditionally dealt only with conversions and metrics and other jargonia.
In April 2004, Kevin Roberts came out with Lovemarks, fully recognizing that people engage in relationships with companies, products and services, relationships that are subject to human emotions, and that our primary aim as suppliers should be to engender love in our customers.
In June of that same year, Hugh McLeod posted The Hughtrain, which touched on the naked core of the human condition:
People are not just getting more demanding as consumers, they are getting more demanding as spiritual entities. Branding is a spiritual exercise. These are The New Realities, this is the Spiritual Republic we now live in.
The soul cannot be outsourced. Either get with the program or hire a consultant in Extinction Management. No vision, no business. Your life from now on pivots squarely on your vision of human potential.
…Whatever you manufacture, somebody can make it better, faster and cheaper than you.
You do not own the molecules. They are stardust. They belong to God. What you do own is your soul. Nobody can take that away from you. And it is your soul that informs the brand.
It is your soul, and the purpose and beliefs that embodies, that people will buy into.
Alexandra Samuel, in her post 5 Ways to Shape the Soul of the Internet, discusses the need for lovingkindness online:
…we can make our online interactions a practice in loving kindness by approaching each online interaction, even writing each e-mail message, as if it were an affectionate encounter with a dear friend. Yes, we need to be sensibly discreet and protective in an environment that is currently rampant with abuse, fraud and predation — but caution can co-exist with connection, and even hostility can be met with empathy and kindness. Indeed, with the amount of time we now spend online, we can’t afford to spend it in a mindset of suspicion; we must find ways of experiencing our online hours as a practice in forging and deepening relationships.
On January 1st of this year, Sramana Mitra quoted from Eckhardt Tolle:
As you go more deeply into this realm of no-mind, as it is sometimes called in the East, you realize the state of pure consciousness. In that state, you feel your own presence with such intensity and such joy that all thinking, all emotions, your physical body, as well as the whole external world become relatively insignificant in comparison to it. And yet this is not a selfish but a selfless state. It takes you beyond what you previously thought of as ?your self.? That presence is essentially you and at the same time inconceivably greater than you.
Love is everywhere and always has been. What is different is that it is finally accepted and acknowledged that it is everywhere, leading to the irrevocable push to make businesses that care deeply for customers and that place values and ethics over dollars.
Five or ten years ago Hugh, Alexandra and Sramana’s posts might have been met with raised eyebrows, nervous tittering and a secret longing, hastily swept under the rug; but there is no excuse anymore. There is no reason not to be ferociously and valiantly genuine. We will live by our core values or we will be swept aside.
Where is the love in your business?
January 8th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Kaila, you are so-o-o on the mark, and increasingly willing and able to post all that needs to be said and all that can be said on your topic. Passion can do that. Knowledge can do that. Love best of all.
I’ve ventured in many business sectors and I stop cold when love is no longer the motive, or to be practical, when there’s greed and few ethics, and I immediately implement Operation Leapfrog - jumping over silly dominance and guile or getting away quickly at any cost.
Good living and smart solutions will increase methinks. We are building a different epoch now. Though these are difficult and challenging times, more and more of us are willing and able to determine whether we’re seeing smoke & mirrors or true efforts to create our better future.
January 19th, 2008 at 3:18 am
What a wonderful post!
I think we are all getting very tired of being treated like machines.
A couple of weeks ago I met with a super successful IT staffing expert who left her employer of 9 years because he didn’t call her to see how she was after the fires here in San Diego. She stayed when they had cuts, she stayed when the more lucrative aspects of her position were split between several recruiters, but the lack of basic human attention was too much.
Sooner or later (I predict sooner with the decrease in supply and increase in demand hits the market)employers are going to realize that without kindness their best employees will not stick around. As that happens, they will hopefully realize that as many researches show- kindness leads to outstanding business results (as I write in my book Outswim the Sharks: it’s as good for the organization’s pocket as it is to my soul).
But as a professional of many years in this field I must say that kindness isn’t enough. Kindness often leads to being stepped on, crossing boundaries, and mediocrity. We should be very careful not to encourage kindness without providing executives with the skills they need in order to make it happen.
We can promise them though that if they choose this path, and if equipped with the right skills, they have a much higher chance of long term success than they would with any other business style.
I salute you for this comprehensive post. I’m hoping for the day that business schools will promote these values and that eager parents will feel comfortable encouraging their young to choose kinder ways to get to excellence.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:45 am
Brian, Reut, thank you.
Reut, your point about giving executives the skills to prevent being stepped on, crossing boundaries, and mediocrity is one that is near to my heart. The issue, I believe, lies at the heart of our definition of ‘kindness’, and particularly in many people’s tendency to equate ‘kindness’ with ‘weakness’.
Kindness is NOT AT ALL the same as weakness. Understanding the difference between the two can be a critical key to human freedom and empowerment.
All the best,
Kaila
January 31st, 2008 at 12:41 am
Excellent and timely post. I couldn’t agree more. In their book “The Experience Economy” Joseph Pine and James Gilmore suggest we are entering an economic age based on experiences. I take this this thought a step further and propose that MEANINGFUL experiences (experiences that connect us with our true nature) will be most valuable. In fact, we all have the opportunity to personally Become Value in this Age of Meaning by knowing and expressing our loving nature. I coach leaders and teach workshops on this subject and it heartens me to see more and more posts like yours. After all, if we’re not serving love… what are we serving?