Healthy Company Cultures Cannot Exist Without Love

A healthy company culture cannot exist without love... wait what?

Yes, you read that right. A healthy company culture cannot exist without a certain level of love.

Where does this love exist? Inside the leaders. And this love doesn't start with the employees of the company... it starts with the leaders.

Now this is very unorthodox to speak in more of a spiritual way when it relates to creating an exciting company to work for. Yet, this is the only way.

In order to lead a thriving company culture, the leaders in charge -- mainly the ownership or CEO -- must have a love for themselves first. Without this love for themselves, it's extremely difficult (if not impossible) for them to have a positive impact on the people they serve.

So what does it mean to love yourself?

Here are a few ways to express love for oneself as a leader to improve culture:

Daily meditation or prayer or both

This is time dedicated to connect with something bigger than oneself. This is a time of reflection, connection and to sit at a much higher level.

Exercise

This is not a punishment. This is a celebration. Exercise allows a leader to show themselves love by taking care of their bodies, because they know it's vital to their success long term. People rely on company leaders, family, employees and vendors. Taking time to move and sweat allows them the energy to sustain the ups and downs. There is also a brain chemical release which assists in mitigating stress.

Eating healthy

The professional leader will monitor their nutrition, their alcohol consumption and be mindful of taking the right supplements for performance in life. This creates a sustained energy and manages emotions.

Gratitude

Taking time to give appreciation for where the leader is and all the gifts they have in their life. This is vital to success because there will be some rough waters at times. Gratitude provides perspective.

Relationships

Fostering and maintaining healthy relationships has a positive emotional ROI most are not aware of.

Spouse or partner - stay connected and centered consistently and frequently with a spouse or partner allows for additional support and grounding. Not pouring into these relationships causes divorce and unwanted life stress. Dates are a must and making these a priority to connect keeps to spark alive and well.

Kids - A true leader also has consistent dates with their kids. Even if it's for brief moments in busy times, leaders understand the importance of the connection with their kids. They prioritize energy for dates and/or connection with their kids, because they see this as the ultimate responsibility. Kids are a source of joy and maintaining a healthy connection provides a boost of power to dominate in business.

Journaling/Reflections

A powerful leader will take time to process events, emotions, trauma, thoughts, ideas and feelings in order to gain perspective on their personal growth. Leaders who invest this time in themselves create a barrier of space, a buffer if you will, to dig into themselves. This invested time provides clarity and certainty in good times as well as challenging times.

Discovery or learning

This is typically the easy part for a strong leader. Taking time to learn daily on a given topic, business or otherwise, expanding their awareness, knowledge and creating the competitive advantage.

Coaching

The best leaders are great coaches. They take their knowledge and know they must share it in order to lift up all those they are surrounded by.

What are some of the byproducts of a leader who invests in themselves?         

Having a great hiring process to find others who will actually give a shit about the mission they are on.

People with high integrity, people who are professionals and people who will be a catalyst of results.

Great leaders who attract A players also don't have to carry the baton alone.

Their teams are supportive, collaborative and solution oriented. This makes the job a little less stressful and creates a positive physiological response of oxytocin (the happy hormone). This is why positive and healthy cultures are infectious for those in their walls.

We as leaders are not perfect... and I am not either. This recipe is a difficult road and takes deliberate actions in order to consistently achieve. This is a game, a game of life. This is part of the recipe to win and create a life of abundance and joy.?