Love’s been on my mind a lot lately. And I know this is supposed to be a blog about project management and professional development, but let’s face it. It’s hard to think about work with so many tragedies unfolding all around us.
Hurricanes. Floods. Earthquakes. Mass shootings. Death. Destruction. Vandalism. Hate.
To be honest, I’m finding it overwhelming trying to reconcile my personal values with what’s going on around me.
I grew up on a farm in Indiana where it was constantly drilled into you to:
- love God with all your heart
- love your neighbor as yourself
- and if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all
I feel like we all need to get re-grounded in this thing called love.
It’s not like love isn’t out there. We see it here and there in the stories we read, like the man in Florida who bought the last generator at a hardware store and then turned around and handed it over to the woman behind him who needed it more – to run a lifesaving medical device for her ailing father.
We get a glimpse of love in Facebook memes like this one:
Love is SO important. It’s all-encompassing
It plays a part in our professional lives as well.
Joel Manby is the CEO of SeaWorld and author of the book and video training course called “Love Works. Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders.” The principles he expands upon are: patience, kindness, trust, unselfishness, truthfulness, forgiveness and dedication.
Watching Manby’s videos gives my soul a little boost, like a kite catching an updraft—gentle and subtle, but just enough to keep me from crashing into the ground.
I want to suffocate out the negative with the positive, because there IS positive out there. Plenty of it. And the really beautiful part is that we can generate it from within ourselves. It’s right there! I mean, why are we here if it’s not to do good for others, whether at work or play, no matter which church we go to, or if we go to church at all?
I want more of that. I NEED more of that.
At Solarity, love is included as part of our corporate values. We don’t specifically call it that, but we use words like commitment, greater good, wellness, honesty and respect. These words are manifestations of love. I’m grateful for this because it gives my colleagues and me permission to sow more positivity in this life, even while we’re at work. As leaders, we have more responsibility than anybody else because we are setting an example. As leaders, we must walk the talk
Will you join me in this? Not just you presidents and VPs, but everyone out there reading this blog– will you do this with me?
Let’s all……
…take a deep breath.
…ground ourselves in the good truths.
…remind ourselves that while there is ugliness out there, not everything is ugly.
…take a look at the person next to us. Yeah, that ‘guy’, that ‘gal’
…throw that ‘guy’ or ‘gal’ a compliment, a high five, a smile– something. Anything.
Then let’s all go home and do it again with someone else
…and again, with someone else.
…and again.
Rinse and repeat.
Let’s drown out the ugly with the beautiful.
“Love cures people, both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.” – Karl A. Menninger
“All you need is love.” – the Beatles
About the Author
Sue Knies, PMP, CSSBB is the Director of Practice Management and Instructor with Solarity. Sue provides consulting services to organizations by managing key projects, and working with employees to improve and strengthen their project management skills. As an instructor, she develops and enhances courseware, teaches and mentors students in project management, and helps translate best practices and principles into approaches that are readily understood and utilized. Prior to joining Solarity, Sue had a long and distinguished career with IBM, working with worldwide, cross-divisional teams, collaborating with clients, and managing projects that yielded client solutions, drove growth and expanded wallet share. Additionally, Sue is an active memeber of the PMI® KY Bluegrass Chapter and has served on the Chapter Board in various offices such as President and VP of Programs.
About Solarity >
We partner with organizations and individuals to help them go “from inspiration to implementation” by helping them to define the right work, plan the work, and work the plan.