When I woke up today, my thoughts immediately went to how crazy busy the last few weeks have been and I don’t see an immediate relief in sight. “Here we go again” came to mind and I realized even after a good night’s sleep that I am a bit weary. My team and I like to be busy with new projects and new opportunities for growth, but how on earth does the team keeping working hard and moving forward when we are mentally tired? How does the leader keep leading when he or she is feeling out of control and exhausted?
The answer is love. Tim Sanders wrote about this concept in his book “Love is the Killer App”. This morning I grabbed my coffee and I dusted off the cover of what was one of my favorite reads a decade ago.
Here is what I know. Love is putting someone else’s need above your own. Love is what makes you get an early start on your Friday when you already have 60 hours in for the week. Love is what pushes you to seek to add value to your team and your employer.
Love is what makes the farmer get up in the middle of the night, even during a snowstorm, to check on a cow about to give birth. Love is what keeps a parent half-awake all night when a child has a fever. Love is what makes the leader keep going when the tasks seem daunting. Love is the killer application that makes you different. Be a “lovecat”.
“Love is the selfless promotion of the growth of the other” according to Tim Sanders. When we start a project or a new job, we take on the responsibility to create more value than what we are paid. Tim goes on to talk about how if we don’t add value, we are “value vampires”.
The value with you inside a situation should be greater than the value without you. Love is what keeps me going. The love I have for our team and the love for what we are doing……what we are building. The love the leader promotes and the love the team shares for each other that is what being a “lovecat” is about. Find a way to do what you love and you’ll always love what you do (even on those days when you feel like you need to call a taxi just to get out of bed).
Farmgirl Sensibilities 