I have been reading a book called NUTS! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg.  It is about an extraordinary Love corporation called Southwest Airlines.  This collective illustrates Love through their values, actions and perspectives.  Here are some pearls of wisdom from the best  Business Love practices of Southwest Airlines:

1. Love is action oriented.  “A lot of people confuse love with romanticism and sentimentality…Love is an act of will…What we’ve learned from Southwest is that the power inherent in love is released only when love is shared.”
2. Love is patient.  “Our ability to put up with the guff and inconveniences cause by others can be an indicator of how much we love them.  Love is slow to anger when inconvenienced.  When we get in the trenches with people to endure difficulty or hardship, and we do it without complaining, we express our love for them.”
3. Love is kind and generous.  “Love finds one of its greatest expressions in kindness and generosity.”
4. Love is courteous.  “When someone does something extraordinary, happiness is the emotion and celebration is usually the order of the day.  You will rarely find Southwest employees engaged in the kind of backbiting gossip that puts people down.  “There is a sense of caring about one another and respecting one another and being sensitive to one another that is extremely refreshing, and it causes you to be happier in everything you do,” says Tom Kalahar, president and CEO of Camelot Communications, Southwest’s media-buying agency.
5. Love is affirming.  “Love believes in people.  It chooses to look for the goodness in others.  People who have worked in goal mines will tell you that tons of dirt must be removed before the miners hit a vein of ore.   The miners go on to say, “But we focus on looking for the vein of gold rather than the firt.”  Love makes people say, “I believe in you.  I value you.  I want you to succeed and be fulfilled in everything you do.“
6. Love is compassionate. “Love draws us to get in touch with the condition of other people’s lives.  When we develop a deep awareness of their suffering, compassion induces us to take action.  Compassion consists of capability of identifying with the pain of another person coupled with the desire to relieve it.”
7. Love extends grace and forgiveness.  “Grace is the capacity to accept people as they are and forgive them for the wrong they cause.  As a component of love, grace is an act of the will, extended without condition or limitation.  When we receive grace, it is always undeserved and usually unexpected.  We come by it through no power of our own, but, rather, through the power of love extended from others.  People who feel an overwhelming sense of appreciation are compelled to act more responsibly.”
8. Love doesn’t guarantee approval.  “Although many people equate love and approval, they are not the same.  Real love comes without conditions; it doesn’t depend on anything.   Approval must be earned by our performance.  In this sense, you can love a person without approving of his or her performance.”
9. Love is tough and gutsy.  “Sometimes the most loving thing we can do for people is tell them the truth–even when the truth hurts.  Making decisions that hurt people in the present but help them avoid even greater pain and hardship in the future may be the kindest thing we can do for them.  This is why love is tough and gutsy.  The caveat, of course, is that our actions must be motivated by genuine love.  Often we avoid telling people the truth because, in the name of kindness, we want to spare them the hurt.  At other times, we avoid telling people the truth out of self-protection–we hate the thought of being disliked.  In either case, we do them no favor.  Our evasion of the truth enables employees to continue operating with deficiencies that are detrimental to their success and well-being.  That is not love
10. Love embraces humility.  “Love is humble.  It does not entertain pretentiousness or arrogance.  There is a big difference between self-confidence and arrogance.  We know a lot of self-confident leaders who don’t draw a lot of attention to themselves.  They fight like hell to draw attention to the causes they fight for, but they don’t become too impressed with their own accomplishments.

The Love chapter ends with recommendations:

• Show love more often
• Make love a decision, not just a feeling; then stick to it.
• Recognize other people’s need for love–and your own.
• Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and express your needs.  Love often insists on vulnerability.
• Life is short: forgive and forget.
• Love people by speaking the truth in loving ways.
• Be gracious.  Polish your politeness.
• Don’t withhold love when you  disapprove of others.  Don’t view others’ disapproval as holding back love.

I thank you Southwest Airlines and all affiliated parties, agents or otherwise for being such a great example of Love for us to learn from.

Much Love,

Aaron Mangal, Co-founder, The LOVEolution

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Love in Business