Let’s stop making enemies out of anyone who sees things differently.         – N. Anderson

The Month of Love

February is here!! Hearts, flowers, and chocolates. (Personally, I love that it’s closer to spring!) But for those of us leading through conflict, change, and challenge, “love” can feel like wishful thinking or a naïve concept. When I explain to folks what Love-Led Leadership® is, they say: “Nicki, love is great, but it’s not realistic. You can’t fix a broken world with love.” I get it. But I’d like to offer a different lens, one that reflects on how love’s strength, compassion, and courage can actually shift the way we lead, especially in times like these.

Love Isn’t Naïve. It’s Revolutionary.

Love-Led Leadership is not about ignoring hard truths or letting bad behavior slide. It’s about staying grounded in our shared humanity while facing those truths head-on.

We’ve seen what happens when leadership abandons love: outrage becomes strategy, and curiosity is treated like betrayal. That’s not strength, it’s separation.

Love-led leaders refuse to dehumanize. Love challenges injustice without discarding people. That’s not weakness. That’s leadership.

We’ve Tried Leading Without Love. It’s Not Working.

Let’s think about it for a moment. When’s the last time you heard a leader say, “Leading with love is a core value”? What we’re seeing is outrage as leadership, division as strategy, and people turning into enemies the moment they see the world differently. How’s that working for us?  We’ve become more reactive, more guarded, and more disconnected than ever. We all see it and feel it. And here’s where many people still struggle: love isn’t passive. The kind of love behind Love-led Leadership, agape love, isn’t to “be nice” or “let things slide.” It’s the courage to confront what’s wrong without writing people off as worthless. Love is the refusal to dehumanize. Because the moment we decide some people don’t have worth, we don’t solve division, we deepen it. That’s what “othering” is. And it never leads anywhere good.

Love is Essential

That may sound idealistic. But I believe it’s true. We’re born with love. We learn fear. We learn defense. And yes, some people are harder to love because of the pain they carry or cause. But love is essential, not just my opinion. According to an article from Harvard Medical School, both romantic and nonromantic love appear to be essential to our overall well-being and, indeed, survival.

So maybe this February, in the middle of everything hard and messy, maybe what we really need is a reminder:
Love is essential.
Love is a decision.
Love is leadership.

And leading with love?
Right now, it might be the most realistic, revolutionary thing we can do.

Here’s to leading with love,

Nicki