A version of this article appeared in the February 2015 issue of the Toastmaster magazine.
“Leadership would be easy if it weren’t for people,” wrote Mac Anderson, founder of Successories and Simple Truths , two businesses that produce inspirational and motivational products and books.
He’s right.
You may think that leadership is about you, your skills and your experience, but leadership is really about others—all the people you deal with in business, in your community and even in your family. Without people, leadership is a one-size-fits-all skill.
Those who incorporate love into their leadership style are attracting attention. These successful business leaders are creating work cultures that value individuals as team members—not as assets or liabilities.
Corporations are shifting the focus from profit-driven bottom lines to collaborative environments that support, encourage and empower employees to grow and develop, both personally and professionally. The “love of power” is transforming into the “power of love.”
“如果沒有人，領導是很容易的，”麥克·安德森(Mac Anderson)寫道。他是Successories和Simple Truths的創始人，這兩家公司生產鼓舞人心的產品和書籍。
他是對的。
妳可能認為領導力是關於妳自己、妳的技能和妳的經驗，但領導力實際上是關於其他人的——所有妳在生意中、在妳的社區甚至在妳的家庭中與之打交道的人。沒有人，領導是壹種放之四海而皆準的技能。
那些在領導風格中融入愛的人更能吸引註意。這些成功的商業領袖正在創造壹種將個人視為團隊成員而不是資產或負債的工作文化。
公司正在將重點從利潤驅動的底線轉移到支持、鼓勵和授權員工成長和發展的協作環境，包括個人和專業。“權力的愛”正在轉化為“愛的力量”。
A Caring Attitude
Joel Manby, CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE) , takes love seriously. He leads the largest family-owned theme park organization in the United States—it’s the ninth largest in the world. For Manby, love is a verb, and it works inside and outside the workplace.
His 2010 appearance on the first season of CBS’ * Undercover Boss *allowed millions of viewers to see HFE’s leadership model in action. Manby went undercover to the frontlines of his company, working side-by-side with his employees giving “Ride the Duck” tours, participating in early morning park clean-ups and other duties performed at the park. Along the way, he encountered employees who were down on their luck. He became motivated to do more for them.
At the end of the episode, Manby gave back to alleviate the hardships of those employees he had met. The response to the show was overwhelming—it inspired Manby to write Love Works: The Seven Principles . In it, he explains the principles that guide his life and career. He believes leaders can be successful and care about employees by implementing patience, kindness, trust, unselfishness, truthfulness, forgiveness and dedication in their interactions with coworkers.
Manby says, “HFE trains our leaders to love each other, knowing that if they create enthusiasm with their employees, the employees will in turn create an enthusiastic guest experience.”
赫申德家庭娛樂公司(Herschend Family Entertainment)的首席執行官喬爾?曼比(Joel Manby)對待愛很認真。他領導著美國最大的家族主題公園組織，也是世界第九大主題公園。對曼比來說，愛是壹個動詞，在職場內外都適用。
2010年，他在哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS)的《臥底老板》(Undercover Boss)第壹季中亮相，讓數百萬觀眾看到了HFE的領導力模型在實踐中發揮的作用。曼比潛伏在公司的第壹線，與員工並肩工作，進行“騎鴨子”參觀，參與清晨的公園清理工作，以及在公園執行的其他任務。在這個過程中，他遇到了壹些運氣不好的員工。他開始有動力為他們做更多的事。
在這壹集的結尾，曼比回饋了那些他遇到的員工，減輕了他們的痛苦。觀眾對這部劇的反應非常熱烈——曼比因此創作了《愛的七個原則》。在書中，他解釋了指導他生活和事業的原則。他認為，通過在與同事的互動中貫徹耐心、善良、信任、無私、誠實、寬恕和奉獻精神，領導者可以獲得成功並關心員工。
曼比說:“HFE訓練我們的領導要彼此相愛，知道如果他們能激發員工的熱情，員工也會反過來創造熱情的客人體驗。”
Follow Your Heart
John Mackey is co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Markets , a natural and organic food market that supports environmental stewardship. * Fortune Magazine named Whole Foods * one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2014 —a distinction the company has held for 17 consecutive years.
In an interview with American media host Oprah Winfrey, Mackey described the company’s mission: To sell healthy food, make a living and have fun. He advises following your heart when choosing a career. Mackey shared his story about how he dropped out of college, learned to cook and moved to a vegetarian co-op in Austin, Texas. It awakened his food consciousness and became his passion.
He and his then-girlfriend borrowed and raised a total of 35,000 to open SaferWay, a market and health food restaurant. After two years, SaferWay merged with Clarksville Natural Grocery and reopened as the first Whole Foods. Mackey now leads a corporation of 380 stores with 80,000 employees known as team members.
Mackey says leaders have a responsibility to develop their own consciousness. For him, love means being a good steward of all resources, including employees, investors, suppliers and customers.
Whole Foods extends its practice of leading with love to the earth through sustainable practices.
約翰·麥基是全食超市的聯合創始人和聯合首席執行官，全食超市是壹個支持環境管理的自然和有機食品市場。《財富》雜誌將全食公司評為2014年最適合工作的100家公司之壹，該公司已經連續17年保持這壹殊榮。
在接受美國媒體主持人奧普拉·溫弗瑞的采訪時，麥基描述了公司的使命:銷售健康食品，謀生，享受生活。他建議在選擇職業時要遵從自己的內心。麥基分享了他的故事，他如何從大學輟學，學會做飯，並搬到壹個素食合作社在奧斯汀，得克薩斯州。它喚醒了他的食物意識，成為了他的激情。
他和當時的女友借了3.5萬美元，開了壹家名為SaferWay的健康食品餐廳。兩年後，SaferWay與Clarksville Natural Grocery合並，並作為第壹家Whole Foods重新開業。麥基現在領導著壹家擁有380家門店、8萬名員工的公司。
麥基說，領導者有責任培養自己的意識。對他來說，愛就是做好所有資源的管理者，包括員工、投資者、供應商和客戶。
Whole Foods通過可持續的實踐擴展了它對地球的愛的領導實踐。
Finding Solutions
Since 1948, Kimray has manufactured equipment for the oil and gas industry worldwide. Tom Hill, CEO and chairman of the board, takes a personal interest in the lives, aspirations, families and wellbeing of his employees.
“I’ve learned through the years that every person is living a story,” says Hill. “I may not know all that is going on in their lives, so I need to treat them with grace, patience and understanding instead of assuming everything is okay.”
During an economic downturn, Kimray chose not to lay off its employees. Instead, the company “loaned” its employees out to charitable and civic organizations while continuing to pay their salaries. When the downturn reversed, the company brought them back “home” to work, and did not have to retrain them—a win-win solution.
In another instance, when Kimray’s management realized how some poor decisions adversely affected the company, they developed a program, “Character First.” Designed for all employees, the program encourages a culture of good character—the inward motivation to do what is right. Kimray’s program has now been implemented in businesses, school districts and communities throughout the U.S. and in 28 countries.
Hill says, “One benefit of developing a culture of character and leading with love is that it makes Kimray an attractive place to work. We retain good people because they enjoy working here,” says Hill. “We also attract new employees who want to work in a safe, positive and healthy environment, which allows us to have a positive impact on our employees beyond their jobs—to their families and community.”
自1948年以來，Kimray壹直為全球石油和天然氣行業制造設備。公司首席執行官兼董事長湯姆?希爾(Tom Hill)對員工的生活、抱負、家庭和福祉十分關心。
“這些年來，我了解到每個人都活在壹個故事裏，”希爾說。“我可能不知道他們的生活中發生了什麽，所以我需要以優雅、耐心和理解的態度對待他們，而不是假設壹切都好。”
在經濟低迷時期，Kimray選擇不裁員。相反，該公司將員工“借出”給慈善機構和民間組織，同時繼續支付他們的工資。當經濟衰退逆轉時，公司讓他們“回家”工作，並且不必再培訓他們——這是壹個雙贏的解決方案。
在另壹個例子中，當Kimray的管理層意識到壹些錯誤的決定對公司產生了負面影響時，他們開發了壹個程序，“性格第壹”。該項目為所有員工設計，鼓勵良好品格的文化——做正確事情的內在動力。Kimray的項目現在已經在美國和28個國家的企業、學區和社區實施。
希爾說:“培養性格文化和以愛領導的壹個好處是，它使Kimray成為壹個有吸引力的工作場所。我們留住優秀人才是因為他們喜歡在這裏工作。“我們還吸引那些希望在安全、積極和健康的環境中工作的新員工，這使我們能夠在員工的工作之外對他們的家庭和社區產生積極的影響。”
Maintaining a Balance
From global to local, these new types of leaders can be found in large corporations as diverse as manufacturing and agriculture to small, family-owned businesses.
Paul Freeman is owner and CEO of Anchor D Bank , with branches in three rural communities in western Oklahoma. He admits it’s easy to get caught up in productivity, spreadsheets and profitability models, but, “While those are tools,” he says, “there must be a balance between bottom-line thinking and doing the right thing—not only for our customers but also for the employee *and *the employer.”
Freeman measures that in customer satisfaction with the company’s products and services. He asks questions like: *Are our customers going to have a better day because of their visit to the * bank? Are they smiling when they walk out?
He says that goes for employees also. Freeman’s bank model is having happy employees because it “transfers to the level of service they provide our customers.” Anchor D works with employees to develop each one’s career path within the bank.
Employees’ personal concerns are also addressed. When Anchor D recognized the stress its employees were under due to their financial inability to provide their children an adequate education, the bank implemented a tuition program to cover post-high school education expenses.
Anchor D leaders experienced an “aha” moment when they realized their goals should not be based on numbers, but instead should focus on the direction they take, and the culture they create, to determine the company’s outcomes.
Freeman says, “If we spend the money to create the best environment, training and culture we can … the rest will come. It’s all about doing the right thing.”
從全球到地方，從制造業到農業，再到小型家族企業，這些新型的領導者隨處可見。
保羅·弗裏曼是Anchor D銀行的所有者兼首席執行官，該銀行在俄克拉荷馬州西部的三個農村社區設有分支機構。他承認，人們很容易陷入生產力、電子表格和盈利模式中，但是，“雖然這些都是工具，”他說，“但必須在底線思考和做正確的事情之間取得平衡——不僅是為了我們的客戶，也是為了員工和雇主。”
Freeman通過客戶對公司產品和服務的滿意度來衡量這壹點。他會問這樣的問題:我們的客戶會因為去了銀行而有更好的壹天嗎?她們走出來的時候是在微笑嗎?
他說，這也適用於員工。弗裏曼的銀行模式是讓員工快樂，因為它“轉移到他們為客戶提供的服務水平”。Anchor D與員工壹起開發每個人在銀行內的職業道路。
員工的個人擔憂也被提及。當Anchor D意識到其員工由於經濟上無法為孩子提供足夠的教育而承受的壓力時，銀行實施了壹個學費計劃來支付高中後的教育費用。
Anchor D領導者經歷了壹個“啊哈”時刻，他們意識到他們的目標不應該基於數字，而應該專註於他們采取的方向，他們創造的文化，以決定公司的結果。
Freeman說:“如果我們把錢花在創造最好的環境、培訓和文化上，那麽剩下的就會到來。”這都是為了做正確的事。”
The Greater Good
The stories behind successful leaders reveal core values that are communicated to employees, both in policies and procedures.
Leading with love does not require a large investment of dollars or resources, but it does require taking a personal interest in the words, ideas and lives of individuals, and appreciating how a company’s success depends on the efforts of all.
And you don’t have to be the CEO of a corporation—although you may be some day—to lead with love.
For example, Demetrius Office, a member of Enid Speakers of the Plains Toastmasters club, in Enid, Oklahoma, started a young men’s basketball group about five years ago to help the players make positive decisions and action plans to improve their lives. He established trust and open communication between the group’s members, but, just when they were beginning to feel confident in the environment, a new member joined and disrupted the group’s unity.
“I knew I needed to strengthen my interpersonal skills to help this individual,” Office says. “That’s when I found Toastmasters.”
Office credits Toastmasters with giving him skills to reestablish trust within the basketball group and lead the members to create goals and a vision for the future. “With the help of my Toastmasters family, I learned to communicate in a way that I could speak from my heart.”
Leading with love offers a formula for success that goes beyond a profitable bottom line and a checklist of achieved goals. Leading with love makes a greater, longer-lasting contribution to the world by impacting, improving and inspiring lives.
成功領導者背後的故事揭示了他們通過政策和程序向員工傳達的核心價值觀。
以愛為導向並不需要大量的金錢或資源投資，但它確實需要對個人的語言、想法和生活產生個人興趣，並明白壹個公司的成功是如何依賴於所有人的努力。
妳不必成為公司的首席執行官——盡管有壹天妳可能會成為——用愛來領導。
例如，Demetrius Office是俄克拉何馬州伊尼德平原演講俱樂部伊尼德演講者的成員，大約五年前創立了壹個青年男子籃球團體，幫助球員們做出積極的決定和行動計劃來改善他們的生活。他在小組成員之間建立了信任和開放的溝通，但就在他們開始對環境有信心的時候，壹個新成員的加入破壞了小組的團結。
“我知道我需要加強我的人際交往能力來幫助這個人，”Office說。“就是那時我找到了Toastmasters。”
Office感謝Toastmasters給了他在籃球團隊中重新建立信任的技能，並帶領成員為未來創造目標和願景。“在演講會家人的幫助下，我學會了用壹種我能發自內心的方式來交流。”
以愛為導向提供了壹個成功的公式，它超越了盈利底線和已實現目標的清單。以愛為主導，通過影響、改善和激勵生活，對世界做出更大、更持久的貢獻。