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CHAPTER 5: LEADERSHIP MIND AND HEART 153
afraid to risk showing any sign of “weakness.” A leader’s fear can manifest itself
in arrogance, selfi shness, deception, unfairness, and disrespect for others. 63
Leaders can learn to develop their capacity for the positive emotions of love
and caring. Former General Electric chairman and CEO Jack Welch was known
as something of a hard-nosed manager, but he was also a master at leading with
love, and followers responded, contributing to growth and success for the organi-
zation. Jeffrey Immelt, who succeeded Welch as CEO, recalls the comment Welch
made to him once when he’d had a terrible year: “I love you and I know you can
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do better.”
Most of us have experienced the power of love at some time in our lives.
There are many different kinds of love—for example, the love of a mother for
her child, romantic love, brotherly love, or the love of country, as well as the love
some people feel for certain sports, hobbies, or recreational pursuits. Despite its
power, the “L” word is often looked upon with suspicion in the business world. 65
However, there are a number of aspects of love that are directly relevant to work
relationships and organizational performance.
Love as motivation is the force within that enables people to feel alive, con-
nected, energized, and “in love” with life and work. Western cultures place great
emphasis on the mind and the rational approach. However, it is the heart rather
than the mind that powers people forward. Recall a time when you wanted to
do something with all your heart, and how your energy and motivation fl owed
freely. Also recall a time when your head said you had to do a task, but your
heart was not in it. Motivation is reduced, perhaps to the point of procrastina-
tion. There’s a growing interest in helping people feel a genuine passion for
their work. People who are engaged rather than alienated from their work are
66
typically more satisfi ed, productive, and successful. The best leaders are those
who love what they do, because they infect others with their enthusiasm and
passion. The founders of SVS Inc. started their company with passion as a guid-
ing force.

IN THE LEAD Paul Shirley, SVS Inc.
When Paul Shirley and two colleagues decided to start a company, they agreed to
two things: It had to be fun and it had to make a difference. Later, the three added
that, “Oh, by the way, it needs to make a profit.” Thus, SVS was founded on the

passion of its leaders, who believed in the company so much that two of them put
second mortgages on their homes to keep it alive. Today, the company is a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Boeing (Boeing-SVS Inc.) and is a world-class leader in preci-
sion acquisition, tracking, and targeting systems for the military.
When they started the company, Shirley and his partners also wanted to unlock
the passion of their employees. To start with, they hired people who cared less
about titles and money and more about the challenges and contributions of the
work itself. Then, leaders asked people to write their life plans and talk with leaders
about how their plans meshed with the company’s goals. “I was amazed at what
came up,” Shirley said. The life plans gave leaders an understanding of what their
employees were passionate about and how SVS could tap into that passion by help-
ing them meet their personal goals.
Another aspect of building a passionate work environment was making people
feel like part of a special community. Even in a company of scientists and techni-
cians, Shirley believed, people would be happier and more energized if they felt
strong personal connections to others. One symbolic gesture was having a com-
pany coffee cup made with the names of every employee and the date they were