Valentine’s Day is this week. And, our company, like many others, is in the middle of annual performance reviews. With apologies to Tina Turner, “What’s love got to do with it?”
When we implemented our Kouzes & Posner-based Leadership Model a few years back, I was honored to be named the first Encourage The Heart champion. So many people misunderstood that practice, thinking it’s a bunch of mush. I saw it as an opportunity to help other leaders see that L-O-V-E is indeed an important business skill.
There’s no bravery or boldness without heart. There’s no spirit or support without heart. There’s no sacrifice or soul without heart. Nothing great ever gets done without heart. You gotta have heart. – Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner excerpted from Encouraging the Heart: A Leader’s Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others
Loving your people means you set clear expectations and boundaries. It means you coach, teach, and provide critical feedback when needed. Loving your people also means counselling and discipline, when appropriate.
Loving your people means you care about their success and their humanity, to the point that you invest time and energy working to help them achieve the best of both.
And, of course, loving your people means you encourage, cheerlead, provide opportunity, listen, give attaboys and celebrate achievement.
While writing performance reviews, take the approach that you are not writing them because you have to, but because you love your people and want them to contribute the best version of themselves to the orgnization. Imagine what might be possible!
Only on Valentine’s Day is love all hearts and flowers.
Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.
