“People should fall in love more. Fall in love with the way your coffee swirls as soon as you pour the milk in. Fall in love with the look your dog gives you when you wake up… Fall in love with the person who tells you to have a good day… Fall in love with sweaters in winter and cold lemonade in summer. Fall in love with the moment your head hits the pillow. Fall in love with talking to someone until 4 a.m… Fall in love with the stars when they look at you. Fall in love with the sound of someone breathing… Fall in love with everything possible.”
Courtney Peppernell, from Dr Linda Berman’s newsletter waysofthinking
Earlier this week on the latest #WhatComesNextLive, I had the privilege of interviewing Gregg Parini, a 34th-year head coach of a leading University Swimming and Diving programme. When I asked him about his core values, he told me them, then that it really all comes down to one word. Love.
I told him that Love is a word we don’t hear enough of in business, so it was refreshing to hear it from him as a leader. Perhaps it takes bravery to talk so openly about such an emotion, yet leadership is all about bravery in different forms, leading from the front, by example.
So..
The morning after interviewing Gregg Parini I read this week’s newsletter from Dr Linda Berman, with the quote above, plus this:
It’s true that there are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it’s more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They’re opposites. If we’re in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we’re in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear.”
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
After that, yesterday I had a first meeting with a new client, a professional services firm led by two business partners. The weather was beautiful and we walked for two hours around a local park. As we finished, something sparked in the conversation and a magical moment of recognition happened. I love my work and my clients, and at that moment I fell in love with my work even more.
As Kubler-Ross also notes, all feelings flow from the primary emotions of Love or Fear. From Love flows feelings as Trust, Empathy, Understanding, Passion, Excitement, Happiness, Abundance. I am sure you can imagine that leading from these places is powerful for any business or organisation.
The more we fall in love with moments (such as the sunset I witnessed last night), the more we are open to leading in such positive ways, so:
Fall in love more