With Valentine’s Day top of mind, have you noticed how few people seem to really love what they do for work?
We’ve all experienced surly service, and I’ve found this to be most common in retail stores. Why? Well, in a restaurant, servers know they need to “fake it” even if they’re not feeling it, as their tips depend on it. Technology now efficiently micro-monitors every word spoken by call agents, and standardized scripts help them avoid providing bad service while speaking with customers on the phone.
But in a retail store, we often encounter part-time employees working for minimum wage, and sadly, many of these individuals take the terms “part-time” and “minimum” to heart.
I went into a big-box store this past weekend in search of a Valentine’s Day gift for my wife. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so before I walked out to let my fingers do the walking on the web, I decided to ask a service assistant for help. I was disappointed to receive the universal shoulder shrug; I think I heard the words “I don’t know,” though I couldn’t be sure through the slapping of her bubble gum. I guess she must not have read the button pinned to her: “Welcome, How May I Help You?”
Kahlil Gibran in his most famous work, “The Prophet” wrote that our work is love made visible when he said, “And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.”
As dramatic as it sounds, I must agree with Kahlil: One way we can show love for another person is to serve them in the way we would want to be served. I am sure we can all think of people we’ve worked with who didn’t “work with love, but rather distaste.” I believe life is too short to work in a job that brings you misery and strife. That dullness and bitterness don’t completely shut down when you clock off; instead, you may unknowingly bring them home and place both dishes of discontent on the dinner table to be consumed by those who dine with you.
Taking these concepts to a higher ground in the workplaces of the world — I’ve often thought that the primary commodity leaders deal in is love. As soppy as it sounds, if a leader loves an organization’s purpose, product, or service, there’s a strong possibility employees will feel that passion in the way they lead.
If a leader is a person of noble character and impeccable competence, they are likely to steward the organization’s finances as if they were their own. Furthermore, if a leader truly cares about the people they lead — dare I say, loves them and the image in which they were created — they are more likely to communicate respectfully. They will conduct performance reviews in a way that amplifies the positive, addresses shortcomings lovingly, and remind subordinates of their unwavering belief in them.
This is the heart of servant leadership: seeing your role as a leader as the conduit for using your explicit, formal authority to clear the path and bring out the best in others. There is no need for “command and control” when the glue bonding everyone together is a shared love for the mission (why we exist), the vision (where we are going and when we will get there), and the values (how we work together).
In closing, imagine what customer service, conflict resolution, teamwork, time management, work-life balance, and leadership could look, sound, and feel like if we brought the heart of what we celebrate on Feb. 14 into the work we choose to do. Whether we are full-time or part-time employees, business owners, or retirees — we all still work in one way, shape, or form. Let’s do it with love.
Paul Butler is a Santa Clarita resident and a client partner with Newleaf Training and Development of Valencia (newleaftd.com). For questions or comments, email Butler at [email protected].
