The Logic of Love in Leadership

April 27, 2020

One of the hardest parts of this COVID-19 crisis is that it forces us to be physically separated from our families, unless we already live together. The longer the restrictions like stay-at-home orders continue, the more likely we will miss birthdays, holidays, and other celebrations. We celebrated Easter a couple weeks ago, and it was weird for me not to go to church. So, like many others, I livestreamed a Mass from home.

I happened to find the livestream for the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston – one of my favorite cities. The Mass was officiated by Cardinal Sean O’Malley. He said a beautiful Mass. His homily especially resonated with me. In it, he used a phrase I had never heard before:

The logic of love.

The phrase struck me because, on the surface, it sounded contradictory. After all, logic is rational, and love is emotional, right?

In the context of his sermon, here’s how Cardinal O’Malley used the phrase: Although not documented in the Bible, the logic of love tells us that the risen Christ must have visited his mother Mary. Although we have no record of that interaction, the logic of love tells us that it MUST have taken place. Jesus loved his mother so much, it “stands to reason” – in other words, it follows logic – that he appeared to her after his resurrection.

The logic of love.

I haven’t been able to let go of that phrase.

And the more I reflected on it, the more I saw the logical connection between LOVE and LEADERSHIP.

If you LOVE the people you’re in charge of leading—if you truly care about their success and well-being—it’s logical that you will be more willing to lead them in the right direction; create a stable, nurturing environment that gives them every opportunity to grow and contribute; and provide constructive, compassionate guidance along the way.

Love-driven leadership starts with self-love. You can’t get there if you don’t take care of yourself first. As the saying goes, you can't fill from an empty cup. But if you love yourself, logic says you will be in a better mindset, a better place from which to lead your people with love.

And that concept of self-love, or self-care? That starts with self-awareness. If you are truly aware of who you are, what your strengths are, why you’re driven to use them, and how you tend to use them, you are much better equipped to work on yourself, increase your self-love, and lead others in ways that are authentic and genuine.

Self-awareness leads to self-love. Self-love leads to leading with love. And leading with love leads to more dedicated employees who are more willing and more able to fulfill your business mission. And THAT means greater productivity, growth, profitability and sustainability.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this concept. The logic of love, and its connection to leading with love.

For those of you interested in working on your own self-love, I’m curious how you are going about it.

And if you're interested in going deeper on the concept of self-awareness as the catalyst for greater self-love and, in turn, more effective leadership, I'd love to chat about it.