Love as a Business Strategy

About the Author

Softway is a business-to-employee (B2E) solutions company that offers experiences, services, and technology products to help build resilient, inclusive, and high-performing companies. In 2015, when a toxic culture almost bankrupted the company, Softway’s leadership team—including authors Mohammad Anwar (CEO), Chris Pitre (VP), and Frank Danna and Jeff Ma (Directors)—vowed to bring humanity back to the workplace. Today, through the Seneca Leaders program and other employee-focused offerings, Softway is helping thousands of leaders spanning over forty-six countries transform their businesses by putting love to work.

Main Idea

In "Love as a Business Strategy", the authors Mohammad F. Anwar, Frank E. Danna, Jeffrey F. Ma, and Christopher J. Pitre argue that love should be the core principle driving business success. They emphasize that leading with love enables companies to not only achieve their business objectives but also to create a more inclusive, empathetic, and empowering workplace. This strategy revolves around mastering inclusion, empathy, vulnerability, trust, empowerment, and forgiveness at every organizational level, thereby putting humanity at the center of business operations.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why Love is Good for Business
3. What is Love?
4. Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast
5. Behavior Eats Culture for Lunch
6. The Six Pillars of Love
7. Inclusion
8. Empathy
9. Vulnerability
10. Trust
11. Empowerment
12. Forgiveness
13. Put Love to Work
14. To Lead is to Serve
15. We Are Better Together
16. HR (Humanity Required)
17. Systems: People, Process, and Technology
18. Waiting on the World to Change

Introduction

In its simplest form, love as a business strategy means putting people at the center of work by creating a workplace that prioritizes humanity. The average person spends more time with their coworkers than with their families, making the work environment a crucial aspect of their lives. Yet, many organizations neglect the importance of creating a supportive and inclusive culture, resulting in toxic workplaces that affect employees' well-being and productivity. The authors argue that by fostering a culture of love, businesses can enhance employee satisfaction, retention, and overall performance.

Why Love is Good for Business

Building resilient, high-performing companies starts at the individual level. How we treat each other within an organization can either create or destroy its culture. By focusing on improving individual behaviors, companies can cultivate resilience and a sense of belonging among their teams. This, in turn, leads to high-performing teams and better business outcomes.

"Change begins by embracing your own ability to affect change. Whether you’re the CEO or the newest team member, you have influence." - Anwar, Danna, Ma, Pitre

What Is Love?

In the business context, love refers to a deep-rooted care for other humans. It means working as a team with good communication, putting others before oneself, and genuinely caring about colleagues' well-being. Love in the workplace creates a ripple effect, enhancing every aspect of the organization by focusing on humanity, not just profits.

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

Culture is the emotional environment and behaviors that bind an organization together. It is more powerful than strategy because a healthy culture can motivate and unite people, making it easier to execute plans and achieve goals. Perks and benefits alone cannot create a truly engaged workforce; it is the supportive culture that drives genuine commitment and performance.