Love in Leadership: The Edge High-Performing Teams Need

In a video shared this weekend on their social channels, Illinois Men’s Basketball took fans inside the locker room after their Elite Eight win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.

It started how you’d expect (especially if you know anything about their post-win antics and rituals). Water guns. Laughter. Pure joy.

And then, just as quickly, it shifted. Coach Underwood stepped in and said:

“This is about the name on the front and true love. It’s about you loving each other and about you taking care of each other.”

Love.

Being talked about in a locker room. Not love for the game. Not love for the school.

Love for each other. You could feel it.

And it made me think about love in leadership.

We’ve been conditioned to keep that word “love” out of places like this. Locker rooms. Boardrooms. High-performance teams.

Too soft. Too emotional. Too risky.

And yet, love in leadership is really the edge.

Because the love Coach is referencing shows up in ways we do talk about at work:

Belonging. Appreciation. Wellbeing. Engagement. Trust.

Different manifestations. Same human emotional need. Same human truth.

When people feel loved, they don’t just perform better. They stay connected when it gets hard. They push through. They fight for each other and their noble cause. That's the impact of love in leadership.

That’s not soft. That’s strength.

The best leaders and their teams don’t avoid love. They cultivate the conditions for it, even if they call it something else.

Do you work somewhere that talks openly about love? Do you call it that or use other names? How do you, your peers and your organization benefit from it? 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin is passionate about helping people and organizations understand and foster belonging. Drawing on both personal experience and professional expertise, he helps leaders design cultures and experiences where individuals, teams, and communities can thrive and feel they truly belong.