While we’re in the midst of football season I want to share with you an experience I had this spring with a Division 1 football program. I was contacted by the head coach asking me if I would/could help him with a leadership issue. As the story goes, he was very concerned about the leadership that was sorely lacking on last years team and wanted to make sure that did not repeat itself with his current crop of seniors. We agreed that I would meet with the seniors, which included a dozen fifth year seniors, of which nine had already ready finished their undergraduate studies and were enrolled in various graduate programs. When I asked the group of twelve why they returned their answers were I love football, I love my teammates, and I love the university. We all agreed that the operative word was LOVE and that same passion had to be communicated to the rest of the team! When I met with 100 or so players (the remainder of the team) I ask each of the those fifth year seniors to tell their story! Not only did their message grab their attention (actually gave me goose bumps) it was clear that they were taking responsibility for the success of the upcoming season and they would not allow anyone in that room to give anything less than their best and rob them of something that meant so much to them. Oh yeah, and they are undefeated after winning their first two games.

So the obvious question is are you comfortable with the word LOVE as part of your business vocabulary? I can promise you when any organization is operating a maximum efficiency, it’s always about people, relationships and LOVE. Love for ourselves, love for each other and love for what we do everyday! Without it, the workplace is shallow and full of empty promises. In the end we all want to feel valued,  respected, and part of something bigger than ourselves. Create that environment by implementing LOVE as the operative word!