I want to explore the “heart” work that leaders do to support their teams.
When it comes to sports, I am a fair-weather fan—I can take it or leave it. However, I am forever fascinated by coaches and their strategies. They all have talented teams, but what’s the difference between finishing first or last? And how do you help your players when they’re in a slump?
I didn’t watch more than a minute of basketball this past season, but I was intrigued by a press conference featuring the head coach of the championship-winning Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzulla. The reporter asked Coach Mazzulla about one of his players who was underperforming and struggling mentally with his game, asking “What’s the balance of trying to motivate him but also get him out of his own head?” And the coach’s response? “Tell him I love him.”
I thought a lot about that simple yet powerful response. That wouldn’t be appropriate in the typical workplace, but at the root of his sentiment is a guiding principle for all leaders: Care about the people who work for you.
Earlier this year, I was reading Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” in preparation for leading teams at a conference with World Leadership Schools. His definition of love struck me:
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. Through his love, he is enabled to see the essential traits and features of the beloved person, and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but ought to be actualized. Furthermore, through love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. He makes these potentialities come true by making him aware of what he can be and should become.”
And translated for the workplace:
- Have the ability to see essential traits and potential in others
- Have the ability to help others see their own potential
- Champion their potentials toward their development, success, and success of the company
In the workplace, “love” creates an environment where your team feels seen and appreciated—assuming they are being paid appropriately for their work. In an emotionally safe company, teams and individuals are encouraged to ask questions, take calculated risks, and know that failure is only an early draft of success.
As a last thought, leaders must also love themselves. They must invest real time in better understanding who they are as leaders and the leaders they want to become.
