Secret to Legendary Leadership

Editor's Note:  This is a guest post by BrillianceInc.

What do the world’s most admired leaders have that others don’t?

Love.

No, not the romantic kind.

The kind of love where you genuinely care about the success and well being of others—your family, your employees, your partners, your customers. This kind of love will not get you in trouble with Human Resources.

I was listening to an interview with Warren Bennis recently and was struck by his humility and humanity as he spoke of the importance of offering respect to others.

You can tell when a company has a culture of love. Flown lately? If you flew Southwest, you probably felt it. If you called a customer service rep at Zappos, you probably felt it.

Love is Good Business

Can you get rich without love? Sure. There are no shortage of loveless leaders and companies who treat employees and customers as means to profit. And they spend millions of wasted dollars and energy on lawsuits, PR, and high employee turnover.

Without love, you are missing a key variable.

(STRATEGY + EXECUTION) (LOVE) = BRILLIANT LEADERSHIP

When every other airline began charging for luggage, Southwest launched its Bags Fly Free campaign. “We are convinced that not charging for bags wins us more customers, and therefore more revenue and more profits, as compared to doing what everybody else does, which customers universally hate. Charging for bags goes against everything we stand for.” Gary Kelly, SWA

According to Kelly, Southwest has enjoyed a 1 percent share shift since other airlines began charging bag fees. It brought an additional $1 billion to Southwest when bag fees were the only significant change in the industry, he says.

A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.

Herb Kelleher

“Businesses often forget about the culture, and ultimately, they suffer for it because you can’t deliver good service from unhappy employees.”

Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos (Point of interest, Hsieh lasted 5 months at his first employer, Oracle before deciding it wasn’t for him)

As Jack Canfield says, “Success leaves trails” so begin by learning what great leaders do, then emulate.

Here are some great places to start:

Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh

Lead with Luv, A conversation between Herb Kelleher and Ken Blanchard.

Love is the Killer App, Tim Sanders

Begin today

Perhaps the greatest gift you can give someone is to listen with curiosity. Instead of trying to fix or correct, give someone your full attention. When you feel like interrupting, close your mouth and take a breath. When they pause, ask “what else?”

photo credit: lel4nd