Put Love to Work

THE ANECDOTE

I caught this note from keynote speaker, author, and futurist Seth Mattison that instantly resonated with me. Maybe it was the message, maybe it was the fact that he made a pin. I love pins. I never wear them. They sit in my drawer and drive my wife crazy.

The message?

“You don’t have to love what you do, to do what you do, with love.

Brilliant.

It’s one of those deceptively simple statements that unfolds in layers the more you think about it. It’s a reminder that we choose our attitude and how we show up.

We don’t have to love every single moment of our day, but we can engage every moment with love, respect, and enthusiasm. And love, it turns out, is not a finite resource. It doesn’t run out. We don’t have to ration it. We can choose to apply it freely; at work, at home, in our communities.

Love is also at the core of gratitude. And gratitude? That’s what shifts perspectives, deepens relationships, and fuels great work.

A Radical Idea

Love isn’t just for personal relationships. It has a place in business too.

Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines, built an entire company culture around this idea. His philosophy? Love your employees, and they’ll love your customers. And when customers love the experience, the business thrives. Simple. Effective. Beautiful.

Kelleher didn’t just talk about it, he proved it. Southwest became one of the most successful airlines in history, not by focusing solely on profits, but by fostering a culture of care, respect, and yes, love.

The same applies to our individual work. If love can build a dominant airline, imagine what it can do for our projects, our teams, and our careers.

If the idea of bringing love to work feels a little too soft, this might surprise you.

The connection between emotions and actions has been studied for decades. In 1988, researchers conducted an experiment to test what’s known as the facial feedback hypothesis. This is the idea that our expressions can influence our emotions. Participants were asked to hold a pencil in their mouths in different ways.

Those who held it with their teeth, naturally engaging their smiling muscles, rated cartoons as funnier than those who held it with their lips, which inhibited smiling. The conclusion? Even a forced smile could trick the brain into feeling happier.

Fast forward a few decades, and researchers continued exploring this connection, this time with fMRI and EEG scans to directly measure brain activity. As recently as 2022, a study from Stanford confirmed that facial expressions don’t just reflect emotions, they can shape them. Their research showed that posing a smile can actively improve mood, reinforcing the idea that small physical actions have a measurable impact on how we feel.

That idea stuck with a gentleman I met while networking. He had come across one of these more recent studies and was fascinated by the idea that smiling, real or forced, could measurably impact mood. But he didn’t just think about it. He created something.

He designed a device he called the Smile Stick, which activated even more of the smile-related muscles than a pencil. Curious if it actually worked, he reached out to the research team behind the study and got his device tested.

The result of his invention? A 15% increase in endorphins, compared to the 10% boost from the pencil. That’s a measurable, physiological shift in happiness, just by engaging the right muscles.

The takeaway? Our actions, even small ones, influence our emotions.

So, if something as simple as a fake smile can trick the brain into feeling happier, imagine the impact of deliberately infusing our work with care, passion, and a bit of love.

Challenge

How often do we pause to consider how we show up?

What if, just for today, we made the conscious choice to put love to work? Not in grand, sweeping gestures, but in the small moments—the way we greet someone, how we approach a task, how we listen, how we lead.

Love isn’t just something we feel. It’s something we do. It’s something we choose to give.

Because you don’t have to love what you do, to choose to do it with love.

Thanks for the inspiration, Seth!

🔗 If this resonated with you, let’s connect! You can find me at linkedin.com/in/scottschoeneberger.