What happens to companies who wear their hearts on their sleeves? The pragmatic role of love in business.

This is the 11th article in a series illustrating the impact of Servant Leaders.

In our last article, we touched on a couple of questions:

• How should a business be measured?
• Why is servant leadership important?

Our suggestion was to consider the following from Robert Greenleaf:

“Businesses must be loved if they are to serve us better.”

Similarly, in the series opener we offered this question:

• Where does a business leader find the best advice??

We pointed to five 20th century authors who understood the timeless principles most important for business: Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, M. Scott Peck, Ken Blanchard, and Stephen Covey; all with deeply spiritual messages.

Now, let's look at 21st century authors.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… And Others Don’t (2001)

In his national bestseller, Jim Collins wrote that “Level 5” executives led those “good to great” companies who performed at the top of the stock market. His research noted that their executives “…were all cut from the same cloth.” Conversely, the absence of Level 5 leadership was apparent for less successful companies.

Eight years later, Collins wrote How the Mighty Fall (2009), uncovering five stages of decline.

• What changed for these businesses?

The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership (2012 Edition)

In this introduction, James C. Hunter noted that Good to Great made the case for servant leadership:

“Mr. Collins said his team debated calling these (Level 5) humble, strong-willed yet selfless leaders “servant leaders” but decided against it fearing people would get the wrong idea if he used a term like servant… the team settled on the term Level 5 leader instead.”

Level 5 is a combination of humility + will, the highest form of leadership in Collins’ hierarchy. Interestingly, the first stage of decline listed in How the Mighty Fall is “Hubris Born of Success.”

“Hubris describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with arrogance.”

Firms of Endearment, How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose (2014)

Raj Sisodia, Jag Sheth, and David Wolfe wrote,

“With a title that stands for the empathetic concern of companies that wear their hearts on their sleeves, this book is about the pragmatic role of love in business.”

Firms of Endearment “… celebrates leaders who leverage their humanness by inspiring others to join them in making the world a better place.” In the first chapter, they write about the power of love and describe the humanistic companies, or firms of endearment (FoEs), those who “… seek to maximize their value to society as a whole, not just to their shareholders.”

“A humanistic company is run in such a way that is stakeholders — customers, employees, suppliers, business partners, society, and many investors – develop an emotional connection with it and affectionate regard not unlike the way many people feel about their favorite athletic teams.”

They compared their set of publicly traded FoEs with the 11 Good to Great companies, only to discover:

• Over three years, 18 FoEs performed on par with the Good to Great companies: 73 percent to 75 percent.
• Over five years, 17 FoEs outperformed the Good to Great companies 128 percent to 77 percent (a 1.7-to-1 ratio).
• Over a ten-year horizon, 13 FoEs outperformed the Good to Great companies 1,026 percent to 331 percent (a 3-to-1 ratio).

Sisodia, Sheth, and Wolfe opined:

“These companies have figured out that not only can you have your cake and eat it too, you can also give some to your friends, donate some to a soup kitchen, and help support the local culinary school.”

How is it that a company can be so generous, yet perform better over time?

Firms of Endearment is a book about leaders who develop and nourish others; they create a culture, their biggest competitive advantage. In the Second Foreword to the Second Edition, R. Edward Freeman wrote: “None of what this book says should be surprising. "

"What is surprising is the resistance that can be encountered.”

Freeman has it right.?Despite the evidence, despite the timeless principles many famous authors write about, resistance to servant leadership continues.?

Next week, I’ll highlight three books that focus on developing servant leaders. For now, I’ll leave you a hint that comes from the climax of The Servant,

“… the Monk and teacher Simeon reveals to the students that leadership character and love are synonymous. He explains that the 2000-year-old definition of love read at literally millions of weddings around the world each year is a verb. He demonstrates to them that love is patience, kindness, humility, respect for others, selflessness, forgiveness, honesty, and commitment.”

Until next week …

Stewardship: It’s how you touch a soul that lasts for eternity.

Join and contribute to our LinkedIN group, Your Evolving Servant Leadership Journey.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

About the Author

Tom Crea is a decorated career Army Officer, Blackhawk Helicopter pilot, and servant leadership ambassador.?Because of his proven skills, he was hand selected to run the Army’s leadership development program at two Boston colleges, where he and his team transformed college students into combat leaders.?

Today, he is a Keynote Speaker, Leadership Development Coach, and Chief Experience Officer. He is also the author of Unleash Your Values, and podcast host for Your Evolving Leadership Journey.