To Lead is to Love

“The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” 
-    Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

​

I believe that leadership is a calling, a ministry, and requires leaders to transcend themselves to love and serve others. When self-transcendent, leaders unleash energy to change the world. With those beliefs, my purpose is to love and serve others. I do this by using my knowledge, experience, and talents to enable others to be fully human, find meaning and purpose, and create a world where everyone has the opportunity to flourish.

​

"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.”
-    Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

​

Every moment offers the opportunity to transcend oneself and lead with love, and when we do this, we leave each person we encounter and the world a little better each day.

​

My Core Leadership Beliefs

Shared Vision: I believe in a shared vision, where my role as a leader is to understand each individual's vision, allow them to express it to me and each other, and collectively create an inspirational future picture for the organization. 

​

Purpose and Values: While the vision is "where" the organization is going, the purpose and values are the "why" and "how." Purpose is the guiding light that keeps the organization focused on its mission, and values guide how it works together, clarity for difficult decisions, and how the organization interacts with the outer world. 

​

Enable People to Find Meaning: Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning, believed that finding meaning in our lives is the key to well-being. He pointed out that meaning is all around us and can be found through 1) Work, creating something of excellence or beauty, or making a difference; 2) Encountering love through another person or in nature, and 3) Being courageous during times of suffering. As an organizational leader, I am responsible for enabling others to find meaning in their lives, especially in work.

​

Relationships: I value moments with others when I listen to what is in their hearts, their ideas, goals, plans for their future, and the burdens they carry. This builds trust, allowing for powerful collaboration, respectful conflict resolution, and support. Relationships create energy and power that transforms not only others but myself as well. 

​

Focus on the Journey: Someone once told me that the journey is the destination. Too many aspects of an outcome are out of my control. I have learned that by becoming fixated on the goal, I no longer love and serve others, but rather, the goal becomes the master, and I am the slave to it. The joy, love, learning, growth, and flourishing occur during the journey, not as a result of reaching the goal.

​

Results Matter with Qualifiers: While important, results matter with two conditions. First, I detach from results, prioritizing loving others, experiencing the journey, and finding meaning. Second, how the results improve others and the world around us has a higher value than the measures of worldly success.

​

Leading with Love is a Way of Being
Transcending myself and loving others is not something I strive for or believe I will reach someday, but rather a way of being in the world with my family and organization. Every moment asks me, “Are you being selfish or selfless?” How I respond can change the world. Bold? Over the top? No, not if I do this moment by moment ---> momentum ---> change the world.