Love is a Leadership Skill
As a speaker, I am always suggesting we need to look outside of our small world and pull in research. Last April, I took a deep dive (so deep they have added me to a committee which is super exciting) in the Global Flourishing Study and became familiar with research from Dr. Matthew Lee and his work on love.
Dr. Matthew T. Lee, a leading sociologist and a key figure in the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, has spent years researching this kind of love—and his work shows it may be one of the most powerful tools leaders have. [hfh.fas.harvard.edu]
Love as a Scientific Concept—Not Just a Feeling
In leadership circles, we talk endlessly about strategy, communication, and accountability, but almost never about love. Not romantic love, but the kind of prosocial love that motivates us to care for others, serve with compassion, and create environments where people can flourish.
Dr. Lee's research positions love not as a soft, sentimental idea, but as a measurable, impactful social force. His work explores how benevolent actions and caring behaviors shape individual well-being and the health of communities.
He and his colleagues argue that love is deeply connected to flourishing across all areas of family, workplaces, schools, and civic spaces. For leaders, this should be a wake-up call: love isn’t just “nice to have” … it’s an evidence-based driver of thriving organizations.
What Prosocial Love Looks Like in Action
Prosocial love is the kind of love that moves us to support, uplift, and serve others. Dr. Lee describes this as benevolent service and compassionate action, behaviors that help people feel valued, understood, and supported.
It’s demonstrated through:
Creating a climate rooted in care.
Treating people with dignity.
Helping others succeed without expecting anything in return.
Responding to conflict with understanding instead of punishment.
Love Is a Leadership Skill
Leadership is not just about directing—it’s about cultivating conditions where people can flourish. Dr. Lee’s work makes it clear: love is essential to that process.
1. Love improves well-being.
Research from the Human Flourishing Program consistently demonstrates that caring, compassionate climates increase mental health and strengthen social bonds within organizations. [hfh.fas.harvard.edu]
2. Love builds stronger communities.
When leaders prioritize benevolence, teams develop trust, cohesion, and shared purpose—cornerstones of effective group performance.
3. Love inspires service.
Prosocial love encourages people to do more than their job descriptions. It elevates motivation from compliance to genuine commitment.
4. Love transforms conflict.
Instead of creating fear, leaders who lead with love foster psychological safety—empowering people to take responsibility, grow through mistakes, and collaborate more openly.
5. Love fuels flourishing.
Dr. Lee’s work repeatedly shows that love, expressed through compassion, service, and care, is a pathway to flourishing for individuals, teams, and even societies.
A Call to Lead with Love
If we want to create organizations where people feel valued, respected, and inspired, we must embrace love as a leadership skill. And for those of us committed to developing healthier communities, whether on campuses, within fraternities or sororities, in teams and committees, in workplaces, or in our neighborhoods, leading with love isn’t just powerful. It’s necessary.
What’s love got to do with it? Everything.
I can’t wait to hear your love stories!
Love & Hart
At the core of every message and keynote has to the be love we share for one another and the great care we must take in enriching relationships in our organizations. Hand Dr. Lori the mic and let’s let the love flow.