People bring a lot of things to work on a daily basis that they probably should just leave at home. For example, personal drama and kids. But there’s one thing that should always be brought to the workplace — that’s your heart. And the best bosses know and practice this.

We always hear about leaders needing to have high EQ and IQ but all too often we forget about LQ.

Yes, LQ, which aptly stands for Love Quotient or what I like to call the heart of this article.

Jack Ma was famously quoted about this earlier this year, saying, “To gain success, a person will need high EQ; if you don’t want to lose quickly, you will need a high IQ, and if you want to be respected, you need high LQ — the IQ of love.”

To clarify…

The Love Quotient is the simple act of being kind towards people.

WHAT THE LOVE QUOTIENT REALLY MEANS:

In the most basic way, the love quotient is about bringing your heart to work and to the people you serve. Think servant leadership, for instance. Servant leaders look to take care of and meet the needs of their colleagues, customers, communities and of course, their employees.

The love quotient is about authentic service and showing up through the lens of vulnerability with the intention to make a difference in the lives of others. Because this, in return, can create deeper experiences for themselves and their employees.

For more heart-centered leadership:

Although the LQ may not be the most scientifically proven concept, it can be qualified, if not quantified, through the eyes and hearts of those they lead. So as a boss/leader, showing you genuinely care must come from their heart. I’m not big on models but here was one that resonated deeply with this topic:

Human

You are human and if you want to lead others more effectively, they must see you as such. In other words, you make mistakes and you have weaknesses. And when your team can see more of the real you, they are more likely to choose to follow.

Empathy

Often leaders try to be sympathetic, yet empathy is far more powerful. The best leaders “put themselves in the shoes” of others by thinking of similar situations, or sharing their own related situations.

Attitude

Attitude isn’t about logic, it is all emotion. Therefore, it is OK to be disappointed and frustrated, and showing that to your team in small doses can be quite powerful. But they also need to see your positive passion and belief on display as often as possible.

Relationships

If you want to lead more effectively, find ways to connect with and get to know more about more of your team members. Remember that your goal isn’t to make friends, but rather to be friendly and genuinely interested in others. While there isn’t a formula, leading from your heart certainly includes building stronger and more lasting working relationships with others.

Trust

Trust is both a noun and a verb. If you want to build others’ trust in you (the noun), trust them more (the verb). In other words, to get more of the noun, do more of the verb.

Implementing the Love Quotient

Here are a few excellent ways I found online which you can start implementing with your team today. Check out the full list here.

Look for opportunities to help and support

Make it a habit to look for opportunities to help the people around you. Maybe it’s an official part of your job, leveraging your knowledge and skills in a way that has a positive impact on someone else’s job. Maybe it’s an unofficial role, like mentoring new hires. Or it could even be sharing knowledge and ideas with a co-worker around something in their life that has nothing to do with work.

Communicate healthily

How you communicate is one of the biggest ways to bring your heart to work. Does it open the door to connection and understanding, or does it feed conflict and divisiveness? How well does it acknowledge the shared humanity of the other person? Or does it instead make them an “other” to be dealt with? Would you say that it encourages people to open up and fly, or shut down and protect themselves? What about enabling a healthy resolution of challenges? Or does it pour fuel on them?

Express gratitude. Make it a point to sincerely thank people whenever the opportunity arises. This is a two-way street. The recipient gets the good feeling of being appreciated, and you get to bask in gratitude – a heart-based activity if ever there was one.

Acknowledge others

Likewise, sincerely acknowledging others’ efforts and achievements can be a way to work from the heart. It’s a validating and encouraging practice that requires little investment on your part, but has the potential to make a significant impact for the receiving party. And in the go-go, results-driven environment of today’s workplace, that kind of reinforcement is often all too infrequent.

Show patience

We live in an impatient culture. For that reason, showing patience is a gift of love. Not only does it create more space for your interactions to unfold positively, it also reduces the negative impact of impatience-driven conflict.

Connect

You don’t work with co-workers. You work with people. So 0pening yourself to connection with the people you work with takes you out of cogs-in-a-machine mode and creates the possibility of more meaningful experiences.

Final Thought

Love what you do, where you do it and ultimately love the opportunity to make a difference in another person’s life whenever possible. The process begins within yourself because you can’t fake this. So take the time necessary to find the love within and then go out and give that back to your team.

The floor is yours: Should more leaders practice vulnerability?

Have an extra 2 minutes to discover more about yourself? Take the quiz to find out if you’re happy or comfortable.

With Leadership,
Joshua
www.JoshHMiller.com

Joshua Miller is a creative leader and impactful executive coach.

His career spans both the advertising world and the world of leadership. In advertising, he was the creative lead, responsible for the campaign strategy for Fortune 100 brands. Today, he is an innovator. He’s supporting the executive development and change management for many of the same companies.

Joshua studied at Syracuse University, NYU and Stanford. He combines that background with his deep knowledge of organizational behavior, performance and change management. He focuses on the analysis, design, development, delivery, and evaluation of scalable and global talent development solutions programs.

Joshua is a Master Certified Coach. He trained with the International Coaching Federation and CTI (The Coaches Training Institute).

How can one determine if an individual has what it takes for leadership?

There is a myriad of diagnostic tests, profiles, evaluations, and assessments that offer insights into leadership ability, or a lack thereof. The challenge with many of these tools is that are overly analytical, very theoretical, and subject to bias as they put people in colors, codes, boxes, dimensions or simply tagged. The draw to these avenues is quite clear; they are fast and relatively inexpensive. I have nothing against this tactic. I have used many of the assessments.

The easier method for determining if someone is capable of leading is actually quite simple: give him or her some responsibility and see what he or she does with it.

Individuals who are people leaders or leaders of a project will ultimately produce results. One can only hope that the results are positive ones but even so, the key here is learning as to what the individual is or isn’t capable of accomplishing.

Just because someone is in a leadership position, doesn’t necessarily mean they should be. The key is to spot the ineffective leaders so you can course correct as soon as possible. Here are 8 things to take notice.

Lacks Character:

A leader who lacks character or integrity will not last over time. It doesn’t matter how intelligent, persuasive, or charismatic a person is, if they are prone to rationalizing unethical behavior or looking the other way, they will eventually fall prey to their own undoing. Modeling this behavior is toxic.

Lacks Performance:

Leaders are expected to fulfill certain measures. While past performance is not always a certain indicator of future events but is something that should not be overlooked. Someone who has consistently experienced success in leadership roles has a much better chance of success than someone who has not. It’s important to remember unproven leaders come with a high-risk premium but that doesn’t mean they should be counted out. In fact, it may mean they will require more resources in supporting their development.

Lacks Communication Skills:

Great leaders can communicate effectively across mediums, constituencies, and environments. They are active listeners, fluid thinkers, and know when to dial it up, down, or off. Remember that this IS a skill to be honed and developed over time. In fact, many of the most memorable speeches by key leaders had many hours of practice and many people supporting the delivery of their presentation.

Lacks Humility:

A selfless leader is a powerful leader and one who empowers their team and people around them. There is no room for the arrogance of an inflated sense of self. If a leader doesn’t understand the concept of “service above self” they will not build the trust, confidence, and loyalty of those they lead. Simply put; if a leader receives a vote of non-confidence from their people…game over. Situational Leadership is an excellent model to support leaders who are seeking growth and development in this area.

Lacks Flexibility:

Great leaders are fluid and flexible in their approach. They recognize that leading is not a “one size fits all” approach and that to be successful, they must recognize both the temperature of their people as well as the norms of the culture in which they work. “My way or the highway” leadership styles don’t play well in today’s world, and typically produced the opposite results intended.

Lacks Vision:

No vision equals no leadership. Leaders must design the vision. The best leaders focus on leading change and innovation to keep their organizations relevant and thriving while empowering their people and gaining their votes. Leaders who cannot provide direction are spotted quickly. The giveaway is both their inability to communicate their vision as well as the immediate team of supporters they associate with. Communication is a skill that can be worked on over time. However, the vision is conceptualized by the leader in charge. It should be clear enough to ensure a healthy conversation to crystallize the message.

Lacks Commitment:

Leaders fully commit to investing in those they lead. This looks likes supporting their team, mentoring and coaching their team, and they truly care for their team which is visible by their people. A leader not fully invested in their team won’t have a team and will find themselves leading an army of one…themselves.

Lacks Accountability:

Real leaders are accountable both in their actions and non-actions. They don’t blame others, don’t claim credit for the success of their team, and always accept responsibility for failures that occur on their watch. There isn’t too much grey area here. Successful leaders are accountable to their team. Bottom line – leaders must be accountable to their people. If not, their people will hold them accountable.

Find my suggested reading to overcome bad leadership here:

Finding, grooming, electing or choosing leaders or people for leadership roles is not an exact science and even with all the tools that exist – sometimes it comes down to more basic observation than online assessment. You want to make sure that your leaders are honest, have a demonstrated track record of success, well-spoken, committed to serving those they lead, be fluid in approach, possess focus, and have won the trust of the people they are leading.

Have an extra 2 minutes to discover more about yourself? Take the quiz to find out if you’re happy or comfortable.

With Leadership,
Joshua
www.JoshHMiller.com

Joshua Miller is a creative leader and impactful executive coach.

His career spans both the advertising world and the world of leadership. In advertising, he was the creative lead, responsible for the campaign strategy for Fortune 100 brands. Today, he is an innovator. He’s supporting the executive development and change management for many of the same companies.

Joshua studied at Syracuse University, NYU and Stanford. He combines that background with his deep knowledge of organizational behavior, performance and change management. He focuses on the analysis, design, development, delivery, and evaluation of scalable and global talent development solutions programs.

Joshua is a Master Certified Coach. He trained with the International Coaching Federation and CTI (The Coaches Training Institute).