Some of you are already bringing love to the workplace.
Some workplaces allow you to bring your dog.
What are you bringing when you bring your dog? Love. Pure and unconditional. If you bring your dog to work you've brought a living, breathing soul that loooooooves you. No matter what.
And, if you're bringing your dog to work, you're bringing a living, breathing soul that YOU love unconditionally.
You might not always LIKE what your dog DOES but you still love your dog, right?
What if you left the dog at home but STILL brought THAT kind of love? That, I-respect-your-humanity-and-want-to-make-our-time-together-pleasant kind of LOVE?
I know, some of you are thinking,
"This chick has gone off the deep end. She's gone cra-ay-azy."
Please hear me out.
I just started reading "The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts" by Gary Chapman.
This is a book for married couples but -always an improviser- everything I learn is filed away in my internal catalog and I always think about different ways to apply what I've learned.
In this book, Mr. Chapman suggests learning to "speak" your spouse's "love language" and thereby achieving more happiness because you both feel appreciated and loved.
What if we expanded that concept to the workplace and did our best to speak "love languages" with our leaders, direct reports and co-workers?
Crazy!
Think about the folks at work.
Each person is different but, if you can utilize the improviser's skill set of deep observation and watch how your co-workers interact with others, I'll bet you can quickly learn to "speak" their language and bring a little more empathy (love) to the relationship.
Remember, you can LOVE someone but not LIKE everything they do!
NOTE: It takes a extreme self-confidence and a genuine desire to create better relationships with your co-workers to put aside your own preferences and "speak" the language of another person.
You can easily start with communication styles.
Some folks want to talk on the phone. Some like email. Some drop by your desk to speak in person.
If you're trying to speak their language, return the communication in the way they reached out to you.
Instead of complaining about that co-worker who leaves you voice mails but never answers your emails why not pick up the phone and interact with that co-worker in their preferred method. If you do this, you're now speaking their "language".
If you are a get 'er done type of person and you have a co-worker who always wants to chit chat -would it hurt you to TRY speaking the language of chit chat for a few minutes BEFORE bombarding them with a work request?
Instead of hurting, I think it would improve your relationship.
Can you do it? Can you bring a little LOVE to your workplace today?
I double-dog dare you!
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