Tag: Love

True, caring leaders encourage others to choose love, not hate. They know that tearing others down never makes one stand any taller

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Love

Accomplishing Anything Extraordinary Requires Love

Accomplishing anything extraordinary requires love. Phillip Kane's and win.net blog
Image credit: Clem Onejeguho | Unsplash.com

Friday, December 9, 2022

This week in my church, and likely in many of yours, we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Gospel reading, recounted the story of the visit to the Virgin Mary, by the Angel, Gabriel, who announced to her that she would conceive and bear a child who would be the son of God. It is not necessary for you to believe that this happened. It is enough for you to imagine that it did. For the point of all of this is not a religious thing. It is moreover about that which drives human beings to undertake the extraordinary.

Think for a moment about what was required in this case, or for any human being, or group of them, to agree to undertake the monumental. Certainly it takes faith. Trust matters as well. But to accomplish the truly extraordinary, as in this example from 2,000 years ago – requires love. 

And that’s the point for the week.



The greatest level of commerce that can exist among human beings is love. It’s not trust. Nor is it faith. While these things matter a great deal and are always a part of winning teams, accomplishing anything of extraordinary value requires a depth of feeling that can only be described one way – as love. It is love that enables the accomplishment of the seemingly impossible. 

Love is not strong like. 

Love is exactly what it says. It is the point at which one places the needs, interests, wants, security, comfort and feelings of others
ahead of their own. When the people in an organization truly love one another, they look out for one another, they protect one another, and keep each other safe. With love, there is no wasted effort or emotion because every single person in the place wants and works for the same exact things – because they understand that when those goals are achieved, the lives of everyone in the organization improve. No one engages in self-centered behavior; no one pulls the rope the wrong way or doesn’t pull it at all, because these are not acts of love.  

When every person in an organization truly loves every other person in that organization, there is almost nothing that organization cannot achieve. That’s because there is almost nothing each person in that organization would not do for every other person in the place. 

Doubt it? Find anyone who’s ever achieved the extraordinary, defied the odds, or performed what was once thought impossible. Look more deeply at what made it happen, kept it together, or held it aloft. I’ll bet you it feels more than a little bit like love. 

That’s because nothing meaningful in the history of mankind was ever accomplished without love. 

What we do here won’t be the first. 

So love the one you’re looking at. 

And win. 

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s new book, please visit HERE.

To learn more about the author, please click HERE.

Categories
Diversity Love

Practice Radical Hospitality

Practice radical hospitality. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog.
Image: Phillip Kane

Saturday, May 14, 2022

This week, my daughter graduated from The University of Dayton again. She first graduated in May of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. At the time, in an abundance of caution, the school canceled all commencement exercises and simply mailed diplomas to graduating students.

But with fears of COVID-19 now dissipating, UD’s administration decided to do right by these kids and hold their own make-up ceremony this weekend. It was typically Dayton. Run by the Marionist Fathers, community is a big deal there. They preach about, and actually practice radical hospitality – a term attributed to Doris Day, who, along with Peter Maurin, founded the Catholic Worker Movement, known for its social justice campaigns in defense of the poor, forsaken, hungry and homeless. 

Radical hospitality is simply love by another name. It’s about welcoming, embracing and including others unconditionally. And the fact that The University of Dayton lives it is why The University of Dayton is a leader factory. See, true leaders are those who love others without stopping to question whether they deserve it. 

And that’s the point for the week. 



True, caring leaders don’t pay attention to things like race, creed, color, age, gender, hair color, hair length, height, weight, nationality, orientation, body art, or other identifiers because they recognize how little they matter to anything related to winning in life or in business. Because color of anything makes no difference, they are indifferent to more or less of it. The same goes for any other label. These leaders don’t care. Leaders who practice radical hospitality accomplish greater things and win more often because they focus more on the quality of the output than the complexion of the people who produce it. 

They will behave radically hospitable to all comers, because they play by a different set of rules in a game with a significantly longer timeframe than this month, this quarter, this year, or this planning horizon. And because they aim for something of value beyond the here and now, they wind up winning more often here as a simple matter of course – mostly because they attract more people to their cause.

See, people seek to follow these leaders because they make them feel welcome and like they truly matter. These leaders don’t turn people away because they are different or seek to collect up quotas of them because they are either. People flock to be part of what these people are building because they are made to feel individually special by one special individual, not part of some wider, faceless, corporate initiative.

These people have no favorites and they don’t play sides. They believe that true diversity is that which comes from different thoughts, ideas and experiences – not differences in appearance. No voice has more weight, no voice has less. There’s no call for guilt, shame or reparation. Only forgiveness, redemption and love – founded on trust, which bonds their teams together and fuels them forward to win year in and year out – a blurred patchwork juggernaut. 

So be like the gang at UD. Practice radical hospitality. 

And win. 

For more about Phillip Kane, click HERE.

To buy a copy of my new book, please follow this LINK.

Image: Phillip Kane

Categories
Love

Tell Them

Tell them. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog
Image credit: Marc Shaeffer | Unsplash.com

Friday, April 29, 2022

In my work with clients, at the end of each engagement, we conduct an exercise among the members of a firm’s leadership team wherein each member of the team takes a moment or two to tell each individual in the room what they mean to them personally. It is not uncommon for these sessions to become emotional. One I was a part of this week, in Hot Springs, AR, was particularly so. At one point, a member of the team shared with the business leader that the things he was told had so profoundly moved him that he felt like a new person, ready to take on anything, adding that there was not one thing he wouldn’t do for his boss.

See, the thing about this little exercise is that in it, people say things that they never have and maybe never would have to people that they’ve worked alongside for years – decades in some cases. It puts people in a position to let others know that they care about them, that they are valued, and that they matter; and for many people this is knowledge enough to run through a wall or walk over broken glass for the person who said it. See, people don’t do things for others because they have to; they do things for others because they want to, and almost always because somebody made them feel like they were loved and had value in the world. But people won’t always know these things if their leaders don’t say it out loud. To be certain that people know that we care, we need to tell them.

And that’s the point for the week.



Assuming that others know how we feel is one of the gravest errors we as leaders can make – right behind believing that love has no place at work. Most leaders routinely make both mistakes, and as a result, they sub-optimize in almost everything they do.

Too often, whether at home, at work, or in our communities, we fall prey to the notion that those closest to us, those we spend the most time with, and those we see every day must know how we feel about them, for no other reasons than they are closest to us, spend the most time with us, or see us every day. Surely, we think, they must know how we feel. And besides, we go on, we’re not comfortable with all of this lovey-dovey, soft-skill stuff. We’ll just slip them an Amazon gift card one day next week, we tell ourselves.

But people don’t want Amazon gift cards. They want gifts from the heart – words that say you matter to me, I care for you, and I couldn’t imagine doing this without you. More than anything they want to know that they are loved, and they long to actually hear it said out loud.

Our engagement-ending exercise is so powerful because it is the closest thing most of these organizations will ever get to experiencing love in their workplace. And once experienced, it becomes transformational. People will do almost anything for those they love and will likewise do anything to avoid hurting them or letting them down. Such is the result of simply opening one’s mouth and telling people that they count for something – that they are loved.

Organizations that trade on love are able to accomplish extraordinary things because those in them want extraordinary things for the other human beings that work there. It is no more complicated than that. 

And the key to unlocking the extraordinary power of it all is no more difficult than telling people what they mean to you, that you love them, and that you never want them to leave. Because if you do, they won’t.

So, tell them.

And win.

For more about the author, please follow this LINK.

To pre-order my new book, please click, HERE.

Image credit: Marc Shaefer | Unsplash.com

Categories
Love

Talk Less. Do More.

Talk less. Do more. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog.
Image credit: Adrian Swancar | Unsplash.com

Friday, February 4, 2022

Last week, I tried to watch the film Dear Evan Hansen, the adaptation of the popular Broadway play of the same name. I say tried, because I couldn’t get through it. The film tells the story of fictional character, Evan Hansen, an odd, anxiety-ridden high-schooler who, due to confusion over the true origin of a note he’d actually written to himself, is mistakenly believed to have been the lone, caring friend of a deeply troubled boy who’d taken his own life. Rather than correct the error, Hansen allows the ruse to continue, leveraging his false care and concern for the dead boy for his own personal gain. It was painful to watch. So, I simply chose not to.

See it’s easy to talk about doing something. It’s easy, like Evan Hansen, to pretend to care – especially when our make-believe concern leads to some personal benefit. Virtue signaling requires almost no effort. But actually caring, then doing something, well, that’s a different thing altogether; one that takes courage, and commitment, and love.

And that’s the point for the week.



Talk, as they say, is cheap. Simply telling people that you care is very nice, but when it’s not confirmed by action, people lose faith, trust dwindles, and their willingness to follow the talker falls to near zero. 

That’s because pretending to care is not caring. Telling someone that they matter without showing them that it’s true is an empty gesture. Even the big book is clear about the important difference between word and deed. Those we have the privilege to lead are not fools; they can quite easily detect the not fine line that exists between empty platitudes and unbroken promises. Almost nowhere has this been more true than in regard to mental health at work.

Almost as soon as employers started reluctantly admitting that there is more driving the 37 some-odd million departures of the “Great Resignation” than too much Covid money, a new dot-com boom, or mythical lazy and entitled Millennials, certain truths about the “Big Quit” became plainly evident to them, including that a lack of concern for employee mental health has fueled many of these exits. So, many HR departments began scrambling to talk more about the mental health of their associates. Like so many Evan Hansens, these folks are doing all they can to show those concerned about mental health in the workplace that they care … by talking about it.

But true, caring leaders do more than just talk. They actually commit to doing things that matter to those whom they lead. They do so, not for their own good, but for the good of those whose care has been entrusted to them. Their motivation for doing these things is not rooted in self-promotion but in love for others, and a deep, intrinsic motivation to improve their lives. They act, because it is the right thing to do – even when it means letting go of long clung to business practices that have historically prevented their organizations from doing so.

Because they do, they win more often. They attract and retain great people instead of pushing them away. They build trust and great faith in themselves as leaders and in the initiatives they put forth. They create legions of loyal disciples who would follow them anywhere. All because they do more than just talk; because they actually do things. And not just on issues related to mental health, but on any issue that stands between those they lead and the better life each one of them hopes for.

So, talk less. Do more.

And win.

To learn more about the author, please follow this LINK.

To pre-order a copy of Phillip’s new book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership, please click HERE.

Image Credit: Adrian Swancar | Unsplash.com

Categories
Love

Like Things For Every Good Reason

Like things for every good reason. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog
Photo credit: Eric Goodman | https://newportbeachsunsets.com

Friday, January 28, 2022

This week, after seeing a sunset where I was working, I thought of two of my friends who often post pictures of magnificent sunsets. One’s show the Sun melting into the Ouachita mountains of western Arkansas. While the other’s capture views of the Sun sinking beneath an almost black Pacific Ocean off Huntington Beach, California. 

Image credit: Bryan Rogers

Typically, the California sunsets earn far more likes than the inland Arkansas shots. Both of my friends have similar numbers of followers; so, I don’t think it’s a follower thing. Both are super nice guys, so that’s not it either. I can only conclude that more traditional, Sun sliding into water shots are just more popular than Sun disappearing in some other place pics. After all, it was the very same Sun, engaged in the very same activity, at about the same exact time of day, shooting forth the same array of colors. There were no language barriers or other distinguishing features beyond the fact that one took place where we have been conditioned to see it and the other, well, not so much. 

And so, one was likable, and the other wasn’t. 

We can be funny like that. We routinely reject things for the only reason that we’ve been taught to. But often, most usually in fact, great value is found in that which we’ve been taught to dislike for no good reason. 

And that’s the point for the week. 



A friend of mine tells the story of a simple game being played among a group of leaders from all levels of a business. The goal is to solve a problem in the fastest time possible. He tells how a young, entry level manager shares an idea early on for solving the problem only to have his recommendation soundly disliked and rejected by the group. But when the CEO raises the same exact idea — which happens to be the solution — it is roundly loved, accepted, and implemented — solving the puzzle. 

People aren’t born this way. 

Prejudices are formed over time. They are mostly taught to us by others — often when we’re not paying attention and sometimes when we are. Here and there, these “teachers” trade in seemingly trivial biases — like against certain sunsets. More often, their obsession with difference is far more sinister. Like a company that believes that the colors of small candy covered pieces of chocolate should have even one thing to do with how we think about gender. Or a man who thinks that the color of one’s skin should have anything to do with whether or not they are chosen for a particular job. 

People who see differences where there should be none do so mostly because they are afraid, or insecure, or self-obsessed, or just plain filled with hate. 

Choosing the better part is a simple matter of acceptance and, moreover, of love. 

In prejudice, we are taught not to accept. We’re told that our world will somehow become less good by letting those not like us into it. We’re taught that somehow our sunset becomes less beautiful if we see the beauty in someone else’s. 

But those who choose to move beyond such pettiness — such sheer folly — have opened to them a wide new world of ideas, experiences and true wonder that never would have been available in a close-minded, head-of-a-pin universe that excludes others for their own protection or self-aggrandizement.

The most loving and accepting of leaders don’t see differences – in age, or gender or the skin color of tiny candies or that of human beings either. Instead, they see the wonder of human potential and the nearly unlimited possibilities that result when love is added to the mix. And for people like them, it matters not where the Sun is setting, because they’ve unlearned the part about not liking things for no good reason.

So, learn to like things for every good reason.

And win.

For more about the author, please click HERE.

To pre-order a copy of Phillip’s new book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership, from John Hunt Publishing, London, Please follow this LINK:

Photo credit: Eric Goodman | https://newportbeachsunsets.com

Categories
Love

Choose Love

US Marine holding a baby. Afghanistan, 2021 / Choose Love from Phillip Kane's AndWin blog
Credit: US Central Command Public Affairs

Sunday, August 22, 2021

Last week, more than 20 people were killed in Afghanistan though our President told us no one was dying. An NPR reporter went off script during Friday’s press briefing and that same President became flustered and walked out. Meanwhile his Chief of Staff is retweeting third-rate MSNBC pundits, his State and Defense spokesmen are contradicting one another and his Vice President just took off for the scene of one of the country’s last foreign policy disasters. And 30% of somebody somewhere in this nation believe all of this is acceptable. But this morning, I saw a picture that reminded me of something that I sometimes need reminded of: none of this is bigger than love. 

And that’s the point for the week. 

The picture is of an American soldier at K-Hai airport in Kabul, holding an Afghan infant. The soldier is exhausted and filthy. He’s tenderly cradling the infant in both arms, looking down into its face, and he’s smiling. It is a beautiful and perfect example of love. 

He’s not thinking of the enemy, or a botched exit, or who’s to blame, or what might happen next. In that perfect moment, he’s perfectly present in the life of that child. He’s chosen love. 

It’s a reminder to the rest of us that we should too. 

The millions of people who see that picture and the billions more who witness countless other acts of love today will be moved to choose: to think differently about life – to choose love – or not. 

Because when this entire mess is over, love will remain. And it is love alone that will make surviving it possible.

See, life is a choice. We can dwell on all that is wrong and broken. We can put hatred and partisanship above what is right and join the 30%. We can choose darkness, or we can seek the light. We can choose to tear down, or we can build up. We can choose indifference, or we can choose love. 

But, in the end, love will win. See, light will always overcome the darkness. And good will forever triumph over evil. 

That’s because people are fundamentally good – 97 or 98 percent of them anyway. Even most of the 30% know what they are up to isn’t right. It’s just that humans have a hard time admitting they are wrong. And an even harder time loving people they don’t know or who have hurt them before. But eventually, even the hardest hearts give way. 

Love will, in time, conquer all. In the history of recorded time it always has. Because when people are given the choice, or simply remember that they’ve had one all along, they choose love.

Because love forgives all. Love forgets all. Love overlooks all. 

Love doesn’t pout. Or dwell. Or brood. It doesn’t seek equity, or revenge, or reparations. 

Love is accepting. It doesn’t divide. And it doesn’t see difference. 

Organizations founded on and fueled by love become shining beacons on a hill. They are propelled to heights unheard of and become the greatest examples of themselves in the history of mankind – by love and for as long as they choose love. 

I saw a picture today that reminded me that it’s true. 

So choose love. 

And win. 

To pre-order Phillip’s new book, follow this link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-not-so-subtle-art-of-caring-phillip-kane/1139978178?ean=9781789049084

Categories
Love

Love the Ones You Lead

Love the ones you lead. Image relates to the poem, An Arundel Tomb, by Philip Larkin. Phillip Kane, Author

June 1, 2021

I was reminded, this week, of a favorite poem – one among the top 5 anyway – entitled “An Arundel Tomb,” by Philip Larkin. The poem, which seems much older, perhaps owing to its subject matter, was completed by Larkin in 1956. It describes a 14th century tomb that the author saw in an old cathedral in southern England. Stanza by stanza, Larkin, an atheist, muses about the lives, or coupled life, of the married occupants of the tomb. The poem strikes a tone of cynicism, not unusual for Larkin, toward marriage, tradition, and social standing. But then, as if jarred, by a single, before overlooked detail, into recalling his own humanity, the deflating 41 lines of the poem before, give way to a breathtaking final 7 words: “What will survive of us is love.” In them, Larkin, seems almost to have surprised even himself. Like one blurting out a truth. Philip Larkin, after nearly seven stanzas of callous detachment, almost tenderly reminds us of one of the most undeniable truths of all time – that love endures all. 

And that’s the point for the week. 



I listened on a webcast today, as the moderator encouraged would-be leaders to wipe their vocabularies, resumes, LinkedIn profiles, elevator speeches and other elements of their public image of any “soft skills.” Loving those you lead quite certainly fits that bill. As would treating others with kindness or seeking to improve the lives of those who follow you. What matters most, it seems, is driving others to produce results, their feelings be darned. 

But as it is true that almost no one remembers who won a Super Bowl two years later, virtually no one will recall one number you posted even two quarters after you put it on the board. Think of what may have been the most important product launch, customer meeting or “change” initiative you were ever involved in. Now try to recall exact dates, figures or even people who were involved. Good luck.

Now think about those leaders who had the greatest impact on your life personally, those you’d tell others you love(d). I guarantee you remember their names. I am likewise certain that you can recall other details about your time with them with photographic accuracy. And I’ll bet you can recite from rote things these people taught you. 

When we stop regarding love as an unimportant soft skill but instead as something central to who we are as leaders and a non-negotiable attribute of the teams we lead, something enduring and verging on the magical happens. Trust blossoms. Human beings come together around common ideas and goals not for the sake of those things but for the sake of each other, for the love of one another. Great leaders make it perfectly and abundantly clear to those in their care that they love them and, accordingly, would do nearly anything for them. In return, those who follow them would walk through fire for these leaders and gladly turn around and do it again. As a result, these organizations win more often and survive downturns and other hardships without breaking their stride. They stay together longer, and the people within them remember each other for a lifetime. 

These things happen because of the surviving power of love – that which, far from being a soft skill, and greatest of all human connections, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and, above all, endures all things. 

So, skip the lecture on skipping soft skills. 

Love the ones you lead. 

And win. 

For more about the author, click HERE.

To purchase Phillip’s book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership from John Hunt Publishing, London, please follow this LINK.

Categories
Love

Appeasement is Not Love

Appeasement is not love. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog

April 23, 2021

There has been much in the way of appeasement occurring lately, whether from corporations, professional athletic leagues, universities, politicians or celebrities. It has become fashionable to simply go along with the mob rather than risk cancellation, boycott, physical threat or other negative outcomes. The influence of pure evil – on both sides – has become so great that truth has given way to myth as people line up to accommodate those intent on the destruction of the values which are the foundation of a just and civil melting pot of cultures and traditions which, despite their differences, share a common belief in the distinct separation of good and evil and in the notion that we are called to love and care for one another. In every significant religious tradition that forms that fabric of this great country there exists some belief that good will triumph over evil, that light will prevail over darkness or that right will win in the end. Whether Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Confucianism, Sikhism, or Taoism, all place an emphasis on doing good, on kindness on some notion or of loving one’s neighbor. In these and the estimated 4,000 religious traditions that make up the fabric of our world, however, one thing is absolutely not to be mistaken: loving one another does not mean appeasing the evil among us.

Appeasement is not love. Looking the other way is not love. Saying nothing for fear of being called a name, being branded with some “ism,” suffering some loss, or incurring some embarrassment is not love. Evil or any other bad behavior is to be confronted, not excused. Evil is to be eradicated, not encouraged. Evil is to be called out, not ignored.

It matters little where the evil or inappropriate activity is occurring or by whom. It is the role of true, caring leaders to address it whenever and wherever they find it. Even Jesus flipped over a few tables. But when evil is ignored, it is no better that a tacit approval of it. Looking the other way while evil slithers into our midst only invites more of it. Evil leads to suffering, to division, and to hate. 

When inappropriate behavior is permitted to occur unfettered anywhere, it leads to fracture, reduced morale and diminished output. It’s undeniable. Businesses or other organizations that tolerate evil and other forms of inappropriate behavior underperform their peers. Positive contributors who see the appeasement of the ill-behaved are told, without words, that dedication to the cause and proper actions count for nothing while evil is elevated and rewarded. Weak managers, held hostage by the demand of the mob, lose credibility by the moment as reasonable, hard-working and honest people see all that they have contributed to and sacrificed for given over in a moment to those who have invested little and endeavored almost nothing, all the while threatening the very existence of those who built all that is being plundered.

But when those brave few have the courage to stare evil in the face and refuse to submit, something just short of miraculous occurs. Evil backs down. The Grants, the Churchills, The King Jrs, the Thatchers, the Reagans and others who have stood steadfast in the shadow of evil without taking a single step back have taught us all a lesson. That history never favors the Chamberlains or the McClellans, the appeasers, who believe there is something to be gained by giving in to any force of evil rather than doing away with it for good – for the sake of all that is good.

So, do not mistake appeasement with love. Do not tolerate evil.

And win.

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership, from John Hunt Publishing, London, please follow this LINK.

To learn more about the author, please click HERE.

Categories
Love

Be Like Him

Enough hate. Choose to be like Him. andwin.net

April 2, 2021

Today, even those who don’t believe are reminded of a story of a love so great that one was willing to die for the sins of others. It’s a story of a man who came to preach forgiveness and redemption. A man who replaced every law that came before with two – one of which is love thy neighbor as thyself.

But even on this day, even those who profess to believe in this man and what he taught cannot get it right. Because who we vote for matters more than love. Because skin color matters more than love. Because hating the right people matters more than love. Because denying history matters more than love. Because being right about things we know nothing about matters more than love. Because despising one man matters more than love. Because winning at any cost matters more than love. Because denying our neighbor matters more than love. Because lies matter more than love. Because saying we are Christians matters more than acting like Christians.

And so today, like any other day, all I’m going to try to do is what he said to do. I’m going to love other people – whether they are brown or white, whether they are wearing a mask or not, whether they’ve gotten a vaccination or not, Democrat or Republican, born here or born somewhere else, rich or poor, even if they have cats.

Because that’s all he asked. To be more like Him. And it’s really not that hard – if we simply stop making it about ourselves. If we simply choose to love the one we’re looking at. That’s what he did. That’s what he chose to do. And he let someone pound nails through his hands and feet to prove it.

Enough hate. He didn’t come here for that.

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership, from John Hunt Publishing, London, please follow this LINK.

To learn more about the author, please click HERE

Categories
Love

Choose Love

Choose love not the hate filled cesspool of Twitter.

January 30, 2021

Part of writing a book is becoming a shameless self-promoter.  Those who know me well, know that I am not especially comfortable in that role.  But I’m working on it.  One of the suggested tools I pursue avid use of is Twitter.  So, I signed up for an account, @ThePhillipKane.  As directed, I’ve been working on Tweeting and finding people to follow.  Mostly, I’ve noticed what a cesspool of hate the platform is.  

It seems that Twitter is the place to go if one is interested in belittling, ridiculing, being mean to, mocking, or engaging in outright hate speech toward another human being.  It’s disheartening to me that so many people exist who share an apparent belief that they can find personal fulfillment in the tearing apart of another person. Or that they might find peace by causing someone else to feel poorly about themselves.  Or that their candle could possible grow brighter by extinguishing someone else’s.  But they can’t.  It is not possible to find joy by taking it from another person.

And that’s the point for the week.



Seeking happiness in the destruction of another human being is an impossible quest.  Solace cannot be found in destroying the dignity of another human being.  No emptiness in one’s soul can ever be filled by “likes” gained from hatred directed at someone else.

Advocating for free expression by trying to silence another human being is not uplifting.  Advocating for inclusion while openly participating in cancel culture actions is not positive behavior.  Advocating for violence as a cure for violence is, well, staggeringly backwards in its construction.  Justifying negative behavior ever using “whataboutism” is empty and devoid of substance, always.  Virtue never chooses a side when two wrongs collide.

Loving others is a simple choice.  

It takes no more effort to love than to hate.  It does take courage.  It does take conviction.  And it does take personal pride.  Hate requires none of those things.

But love is the light that will overcome darkness.  It is the bond that will enable two or more human beings to withstand more than they ever dreamed possible.  It is the thing that reminds us that we are more alike than we are different.  And it is the only thing that will ever fill the hole in our lives that we often try to fill by tearing others apart.

So, the next time you’re about to rip someone down, don’t.  It won’t make you one inch taller.  It won’t replace one bit of what you’ve lost.  It won’t give you one iota of peace.  Only love can do that.

So, choose love.  End the hate.

And win. 

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership, from John Hunt Publishing, London, please follow this LINK.

To learn more about the author, please click HERE