Love is a funny word to use in a corporate setting. From an HR perspective, we discourage inter-office romance; there doesn’t appear to be anything loving around sales quotas or quarterly goals, and certainly, there is no love lost during annual performance reviews.
And yet.
Google “what is love” and you’ll get a wide range of results (read: NSFW). Skipping past some of the more interesting videos, a few articles included terms such as care, closeness, affection, and trust.
Of course, there is a difference between romantic and platonic love, and in deference to my HR colleagues, I want to focus on platonic love at work.
When you consider your colleagues, the folks who work for or around you, why wouldn’t you want things like care and trust? When I teach the #enneagram in corporate settings, I often talk about each enneagram type bringing forth their strengths as a form of love. For instance, how the type 6’s worry to protect us, the 1’s want the best for us, and the 4’s make it ok for the rest of us to express deep feelings.
When someone at work has something tragic happen to their family, I am always so inspired by how their colleagues will rally to support them, through the generous giving of food, time, or a shoulder to cry on.
When I reflect on my own career, I think about:
Lars who was my boss when I was going through my divorce and was amazingly patient and kind.
Lynn Minella who loved me enough to push me hard and support me through big career transitions.
Orit who stood up for me, would take the bullet when one was headed my direction, but also loved me enough to give me the tough feedback I needed to grow.
Love feels taboo at work, and yet, it seems to be all around us.
This week Shelly Tygielski joins Sherry and me on the podcast. Shelly founded the mutual aide organization, #pandemicoflove, in response to community need at the start of the Pandemic. It has now grown to over 4,000 volunteers, over 100 million raised, and countless stories of love and connection, often between strangers.
This is not a Valentine's day story; this is an all-year-round-global-reach story you should not miss. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gGHUEgbD
Shelly believes it is only through proximity that we can bridge the divide between people.
To me, work is the ultimate experiment in proximity, and an amazing opportunity to show our love for each other.
