In exploring how we can return love to the corporate heart, I begin by asking—and trying to define—what is love? I explain how love-filled leadership is a choice—one we can all make and one that will improve profit and contribute to social justice. It takes dedication and commitment, but companies with true leaders are more successful over time.

The rise of a new segment of the population known as ‘cultural creatives,’ as well as people who think beyond egocentric and socialised levels, will be integral to the health of those corporations that are progressive enough to retain them. Independent and integral thinkers are crucial to developing outstanding leadership and corporations; they are not only able to think past the group but can also subsume their ego to build something greater than themselves, while also supporting others. This kind of thinking takes love.

I suggest that this love—the type that is challenging and selfless in nature—should be returned to the corporate heart. Accepting the quest of putting love back into the corporate heart will be tough, but it will lead to a future beyond our imagining.

Building CSR

We live in a fascinating time in history. We stand on the verge of a great challenge and a wonderful opportunity. The rate of innovation (especially in medicine, information technology and communication), the spread of knowledge and the rise of spirituality around the world augur for us a move into a period as fertile and prosperous as the Renaissance. At the same time, the rise of terrorism, reactionary fundamentalism and the closing down of human rights and civil liberties promises to send us back into the Dark Ages. We face threats of police states and global wars, along with significant issues such as poverty (which kills over 20000 people daily) and environmental degradation (which threatens the survival of the whole species). With the size and power of major corporations rivalling that of nation states, corporations both pose a threat and offer a source of great hope to the future of the planet. Increasingly, corporations are embracing such concepts as emotional and spiritual intelligence and are adopting practices to build corporate social responsibility and triple bottom-line accountability. At the same time, we are working harder, have more intrusions into our privacy and have less job security and protection.

This is a time of choice—choice for each corporation and each individual. We can grow and become all that we are capable of being. We can have the courage to be more, to make a difference and to lead others to do the same or we can stay small, egocentric and narrow—looking after our own self-interest at the expense of others. Luckily, world best practice research tells us that companies that outperform their competitors over time are those that choose to grow—not just in size, but in heart and thinking capacity of their leadership. Organisations that choose to develop cultures that foster community, relationships, social justice and individual growth are those that flourish. The question is do we as leaders and as a leadership community have enough courage, enough heart to overcome our own inadequacies, blind spots and fears to do what makes sense—personally, commercially and socially? Do we have the courage to grow on the level of heart, emotion, spirit and soul? Not in the isolation of a coaching session, training course or personal retreat, but in the grounded reality of our day-to-day lives?

Not all love is equal. There are different kinds of love that strengthen the corporate heart, build profits and create social good. We will then examine how to develop heart-based leadership and walk through some case studies of leaders and corporations who have had the courage to return love to the corporate heart.

Softer side of corporates

I am sitting with a client (a MD of a major corporation), who is sharing his experience of working with me and my company with another leader (a divisional head of a major transnational). I am in selling mode, wanting to stress the strategic benefits of our work, how people think and act more strategically, how strategic objectives

are met and surpassed at incredibly fast rates (much faster than using conventional methods). My client insists on talking about emotion, relationships and personal growth. He keeps comparing what my company does with therapy and growth of family relationships. Keen to impress, I ask him, ‘You have used our company now many times to do mergers, company turnarounds and create strategic growth—what is the business case?’ He answers, ‘I have given you the business case—it is all about the people—grow the people, grow the relationships and the strategic objectives are met. I can’t prove it. It is an act of faith but I have now seen it work five times. That’s good enough for me.’ I have heard this same client, an outstanding leader with an enviable pedigree in leading global corporations and doing spectacular corporate turnarounds use words like ‘faith, miracles and it’s all in the people’ again and again. When I see the dignity and respect that this same leader offers each and every one of his employees, I am impressed, heartened and startled.

What has happened to hard-hearted corporate leadership? When did truly great leaders learn that values, ethics, respect and care lead to outstanding business results? When did love become a leadership tool?

What is love?

The kind of love that I see truly great leaders exemplify is not self-centred love: ‘I love you because of how you make me feel.’ It is not conditional love: ‘I will love you if you do what I want you to do’. It is a particular type of tough love: ‘I love you enough to challenge you to the hilt, to expect you to perform in ways that enrich you, the company, your fellow workers and the community. I love you enough to expect you to be all that you are capable of being.’ For many people, being on the receiving end of this kind of love is challenging; it is exhilarating and uplifting. For others, it is frustrating, overwhelming and leads to resentment and even revenge. What makes the difference, both in the kind of love we give and way we receive love, is our level of maturity.

Excerpt from ‘love @ work’, by Australian Institute of Management.