Be an Early Adopter of Love at Work

“Early adopters change the world.”

So said Seth Godin said this in a recent blog.

He pointed out that while the personal actions of one person by themselves rarely make a significant impact to big issues like climate change, equity and justice, or poverty, what we each individually choose DOES influence markets, retailers, and suppliers who notice, respond, and create global change.

He said, “All of us have the chance to change the people around us, and those actions change what gets built, funded and launched.”

At A Human Workplace we would put it this way,

“All of us have the chance to change the way we work to be more loving and human, and those actions change how workplaces everywhere work.”

So when we decide to pursue being more loving on our team, people notice. The system notices and changes. When we decide to act with love today it will change the world.

When we decide to bring love to today’s meeting, to this recruitment, to act with kindness with this new employee; when we bring love to today’s crisis, to the decision this afternoon; when we bring love to this week’s hard feedback conversation or to today’s one-on-ones; when we do THOSE THINGS, then other people notice. The system notices. And the world adapts and changes.

People are choosing to be different.

Over the years I’ve spoken about the vital importance of love as a core workplace experience to thousands of people, and many have decided they want a more human, caring workplace too. Many started showing up to work with more confidence to be kind, empathetic, courageous, inclusive, trusting, and forgiving. Many teams decided to BE different with each other too.

Each week I’m thrilled when I hear back from people who tell me about the difference they are making in people’s lives. I hear from teams that now have the reputation as THE TEAM everyone wants to be on. THEY now set the standard. These early adopters of love have begun to change the world.

People are walking away.

Some participants in our community have experienced finally being seen for who they are, when they never experienced this in their organization. They’ve realized it IS possible to bring more of their authentic selves to a professional community. They’ve felt respected and highly regarded for who they are, and now they are unwilling to stay in their dehumanizing job, working for that cold, uncaring leader, subjected to their disrespectful team.

And they’ve quit. They’ve walked away.

Instead, they’ve launched small businesses, landed better positions in more human-centered teams, re-entered PhD programs, or retired and focused on volunteering or on family.

People are learning and taking action.

Still others, especially those who are White, have learned about how the system impacts marginalized communities.

As one participant put it, “It’s not just about me deciding to be an early adopter, it’s about me first learning. I couldn’t show up differently if I hadn’t learned. Now I don’t just notice how I’m feeling, but I also notice how the system impacts others around me. I’ve learned to check myself. Just because I don’t see and feel “it”, doesn’t mean “it” isn’t happening to someone else.”

She went on, “I’ve learned to listen for when others are being oppressed or hurt, to center their needs, to believe them and respect their lived experience. I’ve learned to speak up and take action wherever I can, which is more often and in more places, than I’d realized before.”

How do we get others to believe?

In a workshop last week, someone asked, “How do we persuade others, especially leaders, to believe in this way human-centered way of working?”

We talked about learning the research, about practicing how to “make our case”, about each of us finding our own voices to advocate for better workplaces.

But logic may not be as persuasive as just doing it, just loving.

When we become early adopters of love, we show the way. When we practice love right now on our teams, we bring change. We don’t need permission to do this either.

You Are Not Alone

Around the world people are making these kinds of choices. I don’t need to tell you about the Great Resignation; you know all about that. What I want to tell you is this: You are not alone in believing that there’s a better way to work.

Mountains of research have proven that a more loving and human way is the better way for people and for results. When we feel respected, valued, connected, appreciated, and cared for, we perform better. We take better care of customers. We are more loyal. We have fewer sick days. We are more creative and make more improvements. We are more engaged, and guess what? We want to come to work too!

The most forward-thinking companies have known this for years and have made work more loving and human for a while now. And today, more and more individuals are insisting on it too.

We are the early adopters of love, and together we ARE changing the world!

If you are ready to bring more love and humanity to your team, let’s talk! We can help you and your team embrace this new way of working!

And if you are an early adopter of love in the workplace, reach out and share your story with me. I’d love to hear about it!