Let's Build Superhumans - The Cornerstones of Love

Good morning, LinkedIn. Happy Thursday. Welcome to another edition of let's Build Superhumans with George B. Thomas. How you doing, George, buddy?

I'm doing good. You got me with that. It's Thursday. I still thought I had a couple days left to get work done, but I love the fact that the weekend is on its way, so I'll take it.

I will as well take a different approach now. We've covered all of the pillars already, and talking about cornerstones now, diving into the cornerstones, the first one we're talking about today is love. Maybe before we dive in, as you're building these pillars out, I know that feeling where it can get like, oh, right, I figured out H's and superhumans. All right, let's just nail these pillars out. And as you're going through, at which point did you figure out the cornerstones?

That's actually a really great question, because as we were building out superhuman framework, we did start with the H's, right? Because it. It was birthed out of the happy, helpful, humble human. Like, do some happy hubspotting along the way. And then we just kind of started to flesh it out more. And again, part of the behind the scenes, the extraction of it is like, what are the things that have helped me become who I am or created humans like me? And. And so that was the H's. But we got to this point where we're like, there's just some fundamental things that are missing the H's, the pillars are these gauges that we can pay attention to, but we're missing the drivers. We're missing. Missing the direction. We're missing, like, the detours of life that are going to happen. Right? And when I say those words, by the way, I didn't mean them to all be kind of D words, but they were, you know, purpose and passion and persistence. Like, those are the drivers and the direction and the detours of life that are gonna hit. And so then we. I had to layer on because for me, it's just a fundamental part of who I am. And the way that I want to show up to the world was, well, love has to be part of that. Because I was in a conversation with somebody and I literally said these words. I was like, it all comes down to love. And they're like, what do you mean by that? And I'm like, you gotta love yourself, you gotta love others. You gotta love what you do. Like, you. You're on this planet to be a light of love. And, like, for me, it's like, how do I become a catalyst. Well, I. Folks, how do I help them become better than they are? Well, I love them, folks, but the put to love them, folks. I gotta love myself. I gotta pour into myself before I can pour into others. And so, like, it was just a fundamental piece, Chris, where we're like, so the pillars are gauges now. We need the framework, the foundation, the cornerstones, right? The heavy, the rocks, the cornerstones of this thing. And so that's where we came up with love, purpose, passion and persistence to be those four pieces underlying it all.

And that's why we got to address them, right? It's not just about the ten pillars. We're going to hit that foundation. And, you know, as you were discovering them, AI as a tool to help, like, kind of just see these new angles and these new connections, like, what started hitting for you right away as you, like, kind of added this element into developing the framework.

I think the first thing that. And by the way, I've kind of joked with you and other people that before AI, I don't know if the Superhuman framework would have been able to be built out at the level or at the speed in which we've been able to build it out at, because we could do a metric butt ton of research real quick and we could ask it questions of like, this is one of the funnest ones for me, Chris, by the way, is like, I would be like, okay, let's take the pillar that is humor. And how does humor align with love, purpose, passion and persistence? How does it not align with it? Like, and so you start to ask it really interesting questions and break down those cornerstones per each pillar. And all of a sudden you see this connective tissue, you see these vectors aligning, and you're like, again, behind the scenes, you get a, oh, my God, this is bigger than I thought it was. You get an oh my God, this is bigger, better than I ever dreamed it could be. And. And so then you start to ask yourself, like, am I really the guy that's supposed to bring this to the world? Is this really the thing? Right? Because, Chris, not only was it like the Superhuman framework, pillars, four cornerstones, you know, that we're talking about today, but then let's add in the layer of conversation around you and what you brought all of a sudden to the mix that we had to start to talk to AI about. And that is because originally this was a individual human, like, personal growth strategy. And then you're like, but, dude, I want to talk about it for organizations. And I'm like, I don't know if it fits in organizations. So I went back to the kind of friend, the bot, the assistant that we had been creating around all this. And I said, okay, tell me how the superhuman framework, the 10H pillars, the four cornerstones, how they would impact a line or amplify individual humans and organizations, teams and team dynamics and company culture. And by the way, along the way, show me some statistics of like, how this might impact organizations and their revenue. And Chris, again, I sat there and went, oh my God, this is fantastic. This is amazing. But also at the same time, it was very sad because the statistics were like, oh, God, people hate their job. Oh God, team suck. Oh my God. There's an issue with company culture because there's billions of dollars going out the window. And so. But again, your original question was like, AI in this process, we can look at it and slice it and dice it and tweak it. And what's fun is when we're actually creating some of the educational content around it. We can also massage it and finesse it and iterate it to where it's like, no, no, no, we don't really believe that. We believe this and we feel this way. And this statistic, by the way, says this, so let's go ahead and change that to this. And so we're able to mold it into something that has become really powerful past what its original birth was.

Well, it's been fun to watch. I can, I can tell you that. And I appreciate that.

It's been fun to be part of it.

Your, your appreciation of, of that dynamic because I. A very real world example. And this is where it's like, you know, we're calling it love because that's what it is. But so much of what we do is driven. Like, okay, I need to get this task done. I know in doing that, the challenges I've had is this person doesn't feel heard, this person doesn't feel seen. We're not getting aligned on all the communication. And, and just yesterday I was talking to a friend about how he's starting to use AI as they do some really big stuff. They grow, they're implementing systems, all these places where alignment usually gets in the way. And the way he's using it and testing it, it's like they're having meetings, they're getting everybody together. He's grabbing the transcripts, he's putting them into the GPT and it's like, okay, what does this person care about as we talk about this topic? How does this how does that compare to and fit in with what this person cares about? And that's where we want very badly to help you do things like that, to use AI tools in that way.

When you do, by the way, because we're here talking about the superhuman framework. When you use AI in the way that you just explained it or the way that we've been talking about to get to the point where we're on this show, doing these episodes, it can become a superpower. You can use it as a window into the minds of the humans that you are around or that you are trying to reach. Like, there is so much that you can expedite your learning curve and expedite your understanding. I would even give it a level of awareness that changes inside of you and again around you, about you, about those around you. Like, it literally can become a superpower.

And it can. And that's why this framework is so important. Because this framework is focused on the humans that need to be using the tools. Right. And need to be working together. And if you don't love first, you're never going to ask the AI for that kind of help. Right.

You won't have the passion around the thing that you feel is your purpose, because you don't love it enough to actually be persistent, to grow. The thing that you're trying to grow, by the way, did that on purpose. The four cornerstones, literally. It is what has fueled me to get on every week with you, to wake up every morning and to focus on this. And, like, what I want everybody to realize is it's like real world stuff that I'm talking about. I'm not just, you know, making fantasy land up and calling it a superhuman framer. It's real boots on the ground. Things that I've seen, things that I've done, things that I've taught, just brought into this nice package that is the superhuman framework.

Yeah. So let's talk about some of that, you know, real world impact at all these different levels that we're talking about. Like, so if I'm an individual, how am I thinking about this? How am I giving myself permission to show up in this way?

Well, first of all, the permission thing throws me for a loop because you should just be able to give yourself permission to do these things. The first thing, because, Chris, I want to. I want to dig into this, like, love portion of this. I need to address something because folks might be sitting here and they're thinking, like, this is a little out there. Like, this is supposed to be about business. But here's the thing, like, individuals, people, especially when I'm talking about the superhuman framework, this isn't about romantic love. This isn't the thing that you would see in like a rom com, what I'm talking about here and giving your self permission to do this thing that we're talking about. What I'm talking about love. It's a much bigger level when I talk about love in the superhuman framework there. And again, I talk in word clouds on these episodes with you, right? So it's about respect, it's about connection, it's about genuine care that we bring to the people we're working with. And just as importantly as that, it's like the care that we bring to ourselves. And I, I talk about this a lot, where you've got to fill your own cup so that you can fill the others, right? You've got to love yourself so that you can love others. Everything that I've done over the past 12 years in the HubSpot community, thousands of tutorials, hundreds of podcast episodes, is due to this level of love, this level of respect, this level of connection, this level of genuine caring for helping people be able to be better with this software. Now it's with just their life in general. And so I like to think of love as kind of this spark that makes everything else we do actually matter. And I would ask the listeners and the viewers, like, what ish do you do in a day that you feel like, I don't even know if this matters? Like, that's not where I want you to be. Right? And so when you're doing things with love, when you're focused on love, when love is a cornerstone, it's what gives depth and meaning to the purpose, to the passion and to the persistence. That by way, all of these we'll, we'll talk about in weeks to come because they're future topics, but they give it that sense of meaning. See, without love, all those pieces, they can kind of start to feel hollow and maybe even a little disconnected. And so we have to be real with ourselves, like, without a deeper connection. One, especially if we're talking about organizations, we're talking about humans, individual humans inside of organizations, dude, it's super easy to get burnt out. It's way easy to lose direction. And you get to this point where you, you wonder, why am I even doing this work in the first place? Love, though, love for others, ourselves, the things we're doing. Love grounds us. It reminds us that, hey, this is worth it because it's bigger than just Me, the individual human. Heck, it might be just bigger than your organization because of the other folks that you're helping. It's about the people we're impacting, or like I like to say on many of the podcasts I do, it's about the humans that we're impacting, right? The relationships that we're building and this sense of true belonging. Again, the reason I bring that up is there are so many humans that they're like, I don't even know if. Or where I belong. If that can't be where you spend 80% of your day. Like, holy crap. The difference between just showing up for a paycheck and showing up because you feel like you're part of something meaningful, I can tell you right now, it's rooted in the fact of love. Love is the foundation that shifts how we approach every aspect of our work, from the biggest goals to the smallest daily tasks that we have. When we bring love into our work, it connects us to a purpose that goes beyond just the word that everybody wants to focus on. And that's productivity, by the way. We get more productivity if we can enable or impact our organization. Our employees. See, it's that connection that gives us a sense of alignment with others and motivates us, Chris, to not only do the work, but actually want to do it, or even, dare I say, feel grateful for the chance to do it. Now, I want to ask you, when's the last time you felt grateful for the work that you get paid to do, or do you just go get paid to do it? Listen, that's a deep question, and it's. It's not. It's not just, like, a nice idea to be able to be there. Like, to be there is actually where you want to be. And, Chris, the more engaged, the more committed, the more results are driven, the more roi. But that's because love has the power to bring people together, to change how teams function and how cultures are built and even how leaders lead. The thing I love. Is that it? For me personally, it's turned work from I have to, I want to, or now. Where I've graduated to in my life is I get to. I get to do that. Like, when you wake up in the morning and it's like, I get to you. You love the thing. You love the people, right? So my. My hopes. Chris and I know we were flying through the time, but my hopes is that by the end of today, in this short session we're having on love, that people will see just how transformative love can Be not just for individuals, but for their teams and their team dynamics and for their company cultures and especially for those leaders that have to lead the company and the teams. Hopefully people will walk away with an understanding that love isn't just a nice to have good feel moment. Like, it is a workplace essential, that if you don't see it there now, you should be thinking, how fast can we make it happen? Because it is. It being love is what makes everything else come alive.

Yeah. And like challenging all the companies out there that say your people are the difference. We love our customers, but for some reason, we can't talk about that. We can't look at it from that perspective inside of the business. Like, that's. That's for personal stuff. Right. But when you hear people say, I love my job or I love our customers or serving our customers, and then like, part of the job is working with a bunch of other people every day. Like, if you don't love them, you're not going to love your job. Right. So the permission part is like bringing this in. Now, I'm not saying go out there and tell everybody you love them every day. Once in a while probably doesn't hurt, but, you know, understand that that's. It's a cornerstone. It's the start of all this. Right. And it gives meaning.

I want to jump in here real quick because it's funny. We're kind of joking. Like, don't tell people that you love them every day. But I don't know if it was on an episode with you or if it was actually on an episode of the beyond, your default podcast that I talked about this. Just saying good morning. Right. Just walking around the office and saying good morning, by the way, is a way that you're showing love. I don't want anybody to misconstrue that. You have to say the words I love you. But how do you show love? How do you live love? How do you become walking love through your organization? Like, that's. That's the level that I'm talking about here.

Yeah, no, that's a good. Squaring the circle in terms of, like, you don't. We're not saying go say it. Because so easily, especially in organizations and teams, like, all right, that's a KPI. We're going to start saying I love you every day. It's like, nope, that's not. That's not it. We want you to show it every day to yourself, you know, and to each other and, of course, your customers. Just yesterday, like, you. You brought up the idea of being grateful. And, you know, so often we start with customers like we should, as far as the strategy and. And the insights. And it's like we want them to feel this way. We want them to feel loved. If our people inside the organization don't feel loved by each other, the customers aren't going to feel that way. And yesterday, you know, somebody shared with me how grateful they are of, you know, the work that I'm doing right now. And there's no way I get that if I'm not myself grateful for being able to show up every day and do this stuff. So that definitely resonates.

Yeah. And I think it's interesting because you've mentioned this a couple times where it's like, the people that you're around, by the way, the people that you're around, AKA teams, even if you're a solopreneur, by the way you put people in your sphere, they become somewhat of a team per se. But in organizations, you definitely have teams of humans that have to work together. And I want to dig in, because love and team dynamics, I mean, they're not words that you often hear together, usually or too often. But the truth of the matter is when you can, like I kind of said, you know, live, breathe, become love. When. When you infuse love into how a team operates, dude, it's a game changer, right? So the question is. And what you might be asking yourself is, well, what does that look like in a team setting? Like, how is it showing up? And I think it comes down to. And. And again, I. Sometimes I hate being a marketer because we take words and we ruin them. But it is about building real empathy. Real, by the way, is the most impactful word in. In those two words, Real empathy and this level of trust between team members. Like, you have to trust each other. And I've been in so many organizations where I didn't trust the humans that I was hanging out with. I knew that at any point in time I could get stabbed in the back and they were going to try to climb a ladder that I probably didn't care about. And that just created this kind of really weird team dynamic or culture. But when teams, on the other side of the coin, when team members genuinely care about each other, they're gonna communicate better. One, they're gonna listen more actively, Two, and they're hopefully prayerfully gonna speak more openly. And that's because they won't be afraid to share ideas or even disagree. But one of the things I love most is when there's love in an organization, you can respectfully disagree. Which leads you to open minded conversations that get you to better places than you once would have been able to get to if you were just being like this fake happy team. I want you to think about it this way. If you're in a team where you know people have your back, fundamentally as a human, you feel safe. When you feel safe, you do things way different than if you're showing up in a guarded manner, if you're not afraid to, let's say, mess up because you know that they'll be there to help you, not judge you. I would want you to ask that question of yourself right now, by the way, am I working with an organization or a team that is here to help me or do I feel like they're judging me? What you're looking for here in the team dynamic is psychological safety. And psychological safety is built on this cornerstone of love. And Chris, this isn't just my words, brother. Research shows that teams with high trust and care are way more effective in problem solving and collaboration. Almost 50% more half right? Almost half because of this thing. Again, you got to ask yourself, why? Because when we as humans feel valued as a person, not just as a contributor, an employee, a budget line, when it's not that you as a human, you're more engaged, you're willing to go. And this is, by the way, every organization is trying to get us to go there, but we're fighting it tooth and nail. But when you're on the cornerstone of love, you're willing to go the extra mile. And it's not because you have to, but it's because you want to. And you know that there will be support for you as you journey that extra mile, it comes down to like, appreciation. And by the way, appreciation is huge. And I could totally talk outside of organizations. The amount of times that I've seen wives and husbands, me included, by the way, have this little stumbling block. I just don't feel like you appreciate me. Whoa. Oh, my goodness. But this happens in teams, right? Because we're, we're not focused on it. But when a team is rooted in love, what can happen is they can start to celebrate each other's wins, both big and small. It's not just the manager, the team leader recognize the owner recognizing someone's success. It's team members cheering each other on. To me, that sounds exciting. It also sounds like I'm waxing a little aspirational. One of the things that, you know, when you have a really great friend or a really great team member is when some good ish happens to you and you can just feel that they're fundamentally happy for you and they're cheering you on and they're excited. And again, sometimes that's hard to find. If you want to see your teams really come alive, you start to focus on how to build a culture where people feel seen and appreciated for who the heck they are and what the heck they're bringing inside the doors of the organization, either physically or digitally. Love shows up when we appreciate each other and we acknowledge each other's strengths and we're there to pick each other up from our weaknesses. There's a ton in there of just, like, team dynamics, but I'll stop there. Chris, where's your brain at?

It's still on the word, you know, employee. Like, I've always, you know, like, five, probably longer than that. I've always refused to use that word. It's like so much of this is this industrial, like, productivity mindset. Like, this is the roles, employer, employee. And, like, even when you try to do a good thing, and that's where we're talking about, it's very easy to just create lip service all over the place and have a much worse dynamic because of that. Like, just because of the way things always been. And like, oh, we want to create competitions, and if we, you know, create employee of the month, everybody will want to do that. And so quickly, first of all, employee of the month, right? Like, team member of the month, like, just change that dynamic and you start to change how people, like, can view this stuff. But so quickly, you know, just because it's a plaque somewhere, like, if there's nothing else, right, you just turn people off and then nobody's trying it. Or it creates this dynamic within teams. It's like, oh, that person. I didn't see them doing anything. They must have a good in with the person deciding who the employee of the month is, right? So screw that, right? So there's just all these different ways. And that's where the words we use matter, of course. And that's where it's like, there is no lip service. There is no easy button, except for just. It's as easy as understanding how you feel and, you know, listening to yourself and the people around you and not trying to build it in, like, build it into the infrastructure that is profitability and EBITDA and, like, how do we get people going? You love them. That's how you get people, right?

Yeah, without a doubt. The funny thing is like, we could go on a whole thing about culture, but, man, time flies when we're having fun. I actually want to dig down to the root of this real quick because I want to talk about leadership and effective leaders. And by the way, I'm not talking about the CEO or the owner, but maybe I am. I'm talking about anybody who has a leadership mindset. Because you can, as they say in some circles, lead from the back pew, right? You can. You can lead from the back. I'm talking if you have a leadership mindset or if you are an actual leader. Because how. How does love come into play when you're trying to be that effective leader? Right? And you might. Again, it's not the touchy feely, it's not the ro. The romantic. But when I think about leadership, Chris, often we picture strength and vision and maybe even, like, charisma. Oh, that he's very charismatic. But love, that's not usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think about leadership. Yet with that being said, I believe love is one of the most powerful tools a leader can have. When you are leading with love, it means that you're leading with empathy, with respect, and with a genuine. Write this word down, ladies and gentlemen. A genuine commitment to seeing others succeed. It now becomes more about them, less about you dying to oneself so that you can raise others up. When leaders lead with love, they create a space where people, again, they feel safe, they feel appreciated, they. They're inspired to bring their best selves to the things that they're doing. Here's the thing. When a leader leads with love, he. She creates trust. People trust leaders who genuinely care about them, not just as an employee, but as a human, as an individual, as somebody who has stuff going on outside of the walls of the organization. These humans then feel understood, supported, and that's what motivates them to go above and beyond. You want to get the most out of your teams. You want to get the most out of your individual. Humans then have a commitment to loving them enough, to setting them up so they can succeed. And, Chris, again, not just my words. This is backed by research. Studies show that leaders who are empathetic and compassionate can reduce burnout and increase retention by as much as 25%. I feel like that number's low. That's the number they gave it. I feel like it has more power than that. Imagine the difference that makes, not only in terms of team performance, but. But also in creating a work environment where people actually want to be 25% a quarter of the humans you see by leading with love, it's not just about warm and fuzzy stuff, because that's where a lot of times our brain goes. It means being honest, it means being transparent. And it also means sometimes you have to make the tough calls. Love means, again, that you're committed to helping those humans grow, which sometimes means giving constructive feedback, even when it's hard. So many times I've watched myself and other leaders just sweep it under the carpet. Just ignore it. Maybe it'll go away. But here's the thing. When you're leading with love, it's about respecting your team enough to push them in a good, human, healthy way, to be their best selves. So. So if you're a leader or aspiring to be one, you have to ask yourself, how can I show my team that I value them as humans, as people, not as employees, not as team members, but as humans. Listen, when you lead with love, people will remember. They'll remember it long after they leave the role. They remember how you made them feel. And to be honest with everybody that's watching this or listening to this, I think that's the legacy that every leader should aim to leave, is that they're remembered for that boss that was committed to care and just felt like a whole different level. And the reason I'm where I'm at now is because of Marcus Sheridan. The reason I'm at where I'm at now is because of Sean Farrell. The reason I'm at where I'm at now is because of Remington Big. The reason I'm at where I'm at right now is because of Bill Wiley. Right. Like, if you can call back to those types of humans, guess what? Those people were leading with love.

And that's a. That's a legacy. That's impact. Like, all the things we hear that, you know, they struggle with, how they're going to do that as the organization grows and as they touch more customers and they know they've created something that's so powerful and they just want to get it out there. They try to, like, oh, best practice says this. Best practice says this. Right? It's there most of it. Like, the only reason you created the product is because you love something about the people and the problem that you're solving for them. And this is where I come back to permission in terms of, like, as a leader, give yourself permission to show up in this way. Give yourself permission to direct your managers and your other leaders. That's the gap. So often it's like, even when leadership Turns it on. Right. And we. We announce all these goals that things are going to change. It doesn't trickle down. Right. So our. All those leaders levels that you mentioned, George, like having everybody in lockstep aligned on this is so important. And when you start directing others and setting those expectations to show up in this way, then all the individuals, no matter what team they're. No matter what position they are, it starts to sink in and they're like, okay, now I can show up this way, too. That's what psychological safety is when we're talking about that. And once you unlock that man, that's where all these numbers come from about how powerful this is.

So as we close out, do I have. Do I have a couple more minutes? Yeah, because here's the thing. I'll try to help us land the plane here. Because what I hope that people take away from watching this session and diving into this cornerstone of love is that love isn't just a nice to have in the workplace. It's not. It literally is the foundation of everything that makes us human and makes our work meaningful. By the way, that statement could be completely pulled out of work. It is the foundation of everything that makes us human. Love. When we bring love into our teams, it's about creating bonds that go beyond the tasks and the projects. Dang gummet. It's about building trust and safety so that people feel they belong and they matter in the place and space that you're creating. That is an organization. And therefore, in company culture, love is what turns an organization into a community where people want to contribute and be their best. And in leadership, love is what sets the tone for an environment where people feel valued, inspired, and supported as part of that community, as part of that culture. But here's the thing, and it's really important that you understand this, love is also actionable. It's something that you can start practicing today, no matter where you are or what role you're in. If you're on a team, start by celebrating a teammate's win, big or small. If you're a leader today, take time, like an extra minute or two to really listen to someone on your team or recognize them for the efforts that they have been applying. And if you're thinking about your company's culture, ask yourself, what can we do to make people feel more valued, respected, and connected inside of an organization? And let me tell you, when you start leading with love, when you bring it into your work and your interactions, it will change everything. People will respond. They feel it, and they'll start bringing more of themselves to the table. So think about how you can bring love into your work today. Again, not the words, but the actions, the becoming it. It doesn't have to be complicated. Start small, but do it today.

Again, all these things are just a challenge in terms of, like, you know, what's been okay, like, how do people run businesses? But I guarantee if you've been successful so far and you've had growth and your team is, it's happening somewhere already, even if you're not calling it that. So I love small exercises. You know, whether you have reviews set up or not already, it's just ask somebody like, hey, how did you. Was there anything you did yesterday that you could honestly say, like, oh, I love doing that. Right? And start there. Like, start to identify these places, and you'll start to see where it's already existing and then how to. How to build on it. Oh, you're doing good work here, brother.

Ah, thanks, man. I appreciate it. It's fun. And guess what? I'm loving every minute of it.

So if you're out there seeing this again, put this lens on what you're thinking about every day. Find those opportunities, and let's grow. Have a great day, everybody.