*3.1. Salutogenesis and Compassionate Love in Leadership*

When leaders were asked how compassionate love and salutogenesis are connected, 19 out of 23 leaders responded that compassionate love is the basis for salutogenesis. P10, a Japanese female leader, 59 years, emphasises that compassionate love and salutogenesis are strongly interwoven concepts:

"Yes, they are connected tightly. Mental health and well-being provide us with energy to embrace and love others, and vice versa."

P15, a female Israeli leader, also recognises the interconnectedness of CL and health:

"People who have true love and are in good relationship, are physically and mentally healthier. They live longer, less depressed, report fewer pains and more happiness."

Eight participants said that CL is their resource to cope at work. Altogether, seven participants mentioned that compassionate self-love is their core C resource that fosters mental health. P1, a German female leader, emphasises a combined perspective:

"Love is in my view a really crucial factor for happiness, well-being. Although I always used to think that love must be a partner, today I continue to think about it and I enjoy the many loves in my life. ... Love is a very important factor for my personal well-being and my health. It is not just about being loved, but above all about loving oneself. In me is an ocean of love, I have to share, otherwise I may drown in myself;-) At the same time, the world needs more love, it is a resource ... "

Further the findings (Table 1) show that seven leaders highlight that CL is a universal emotion and part of "being human". "Being human" is very important in leadership (P1). For six other participants, CL is a general source of happiness and. as such, it is connected to salutogenesis. For five other individuals, CL is the force that creates their inner being, but also the outer balance and harmony they need in their demanding position. CL determines how they feel about people and situations, and how they act and respond. Four individuals highlighted that, if they have an intra-personal feeling of CL towards the world, they are content and happy with their leadership. Happiness further induces salutogenic feelings being at ease with the world. Finally, two individuals view CL as a base for their inner safety and salutogenesis.


#### **Table 1.** Connection between love and mental health.

In the following section, the findings are presented with regard to the three components of SOC as aspects which promote and foster mental health and well-being when integrated.

#### *3.2. How do You Understand the World of Work? (Comprehensibility)*

Altogether, 13 leaders say that they can cope best when they understand the world in its complexity and by applying an attitude of CL (Table 2). P19, a Romanian female leader, points out:

"I believe love transcends culture. It is above it and above everything else. Love is a bridge. It is universal, even if expressed differently across cultures. We understand love even if we belong to different cultural backgrounds. This understanding is important to be together and work together. Love is love. We all know when we are being loved. And it helps us to understand each other."

Further, eight leaders highlight that attitude is not only relevant in terms of comprehensibility but also brings appreciation. P8, a male German-Iranian leader, emphasises:

"Appreciation is a main key to open yourself for other people. If you show appreciation, people will open up and understand that a transcultural faux pas was not an intended insult."

P9, a German male leader, mentions:

"Love brings about an appreciation for self and others through its positive energy and strengths. When we love, we feel energized and healthy. And when we appreciate the other we might understand him better."

According to seven leaders, comprehensibility is fostered through a willingness to learn about others. P14, a male South African leader, emphasises:

"In leadership and co-operation, we need to show interest, objectivity, concern, justice, empathy, listening skills, support, willingness to go the extra mile, encouragement, openness, warmth, honesty, a smile, little positive deeds, positive action, word of honour. We need to stay willing to learn, be open. Then cooperation across cultures will work out. But probably it is not valued enough."

Finally, listening with patience and kindness—aspects which are described as part of CL—brings a deeper comprehensibility of complex, transcultural situations which are experienced as demanding or challenging.



#### *3.3. How do You Manage Your Work? (Manageability)*

Participants refer to three major categories which are most helpful to manage and lead across cultures: positive behaviour, positive attitude and positive emotions (Table 3).


**Table 3.** Manageability and love.

Building an interpersonal connection is part of managing relationships across cultures. This connection should be built on CL and can support coping with challenging transcultural work situations. P1, a German, female leader, says:

"Love gives me the strengths to build bridges and connect to other people, no matter where they come from. I believe in the good of the other and love helps me to do that. Love, for me, is a resource to be together, cooperate and build bridges."

Generally, respectful behaviour and trust are foundations to manage transcultural and global work relationships (8 participants). P11, a German male leader, highlights:

"When we behave in a loving way, respectful and kind, it is easy to cooperate in a diverse workforce. Then it is really enjoyable."

Further, eight individuals use knowledge from previous transcultural experiences in which solutions were found. Another 13 participants emphasise that to manage transcultural and global cooperation, they have to understand, respect and value others from different backgrounds. P12, a male Black African leader, highlights both aspects in his response to managing global work relationships:

"We must always see to learn as much as the own and other culture. When we use all this knowledge of humankind in a loving way, we will collaborate well and in a good spirit."

Finally, five leaders mention that a general love for humanity, a kind of world love, which is often called "agape" is important to manage transcultural situations and individuals.

With regard to positive behaviour, open communication (7), showing compassion (3) through behaviour and verbally challenging prejudices and racism (3) are mentioned.

Leaders expressed different views on how to manage global work relationships. In total, 13 participants feel that they need to focus on positive emotions to cope with transcultural cooperation. P4, a male German leader, says:

"When you feel positive feeling towards the other it is so much easier to respect, to appreciate and to learn from the other. When I focus on the positive feelings, I can cope much easier with any transcultural situation."

The majority of leaders found coping easier when positive thoughts, feelings and behaviours were executed or experienced.

#### *3.4. What Makes Your Work Meaningful? (Meaningfulness)*

Altogether, 51 statements were made with regard to meaningfulness. Many statements refer to meaningfulness and its creation through loving (work) relationships (Table 4). Meaningfulness is strongly constituted through a loving human connection (13 participants). CL represents an overall meaning for 11 participants. This experienced meaningfulness is connected to fulfilment, vocation and life purpose. The following statements refer to CL and meaning in this regard. However, four statements also refer to the negative aspects in the case of an absence of CL, which is associated with negative health and depression. P6, a US-American male leader, points out:

"I can devote myself to meaningful work because I have the security that comes with being embedded in relationships of mutual love. And even though I have collaborated with other scholars who I do not particularly know, or sometimes do not know at all, most of my collaborations have been in what I would call loving relationships. And the work we have done or are doing is meaningful both because we are jointly putting our knowledge and abilities to the project and because we like working with one another."

#### P18, a female US-American leader, states:

"I have worked for institutions that see their employees and students as fungible cogs in a wheel. These employers use their employees only for the monetary value that can be gained, as if the only value in an institution of higher learning is the bottom line. I am now in a place that recognizes the importance of vocation—both with the faculty and staff and with the students."

P7, a German female leader, emphasises:

"Love is an energy that transforms people for the better, for peace, sustainability, and humanity, and positivity in its original form."

CL is viewed as an overall positive concept that is only negative when it is intentionally or unintentionally misused or absent. It is seen as a universal positive source which can connect individuals of different cultures.



#### *3.5. Coping Mechanisms*

In terms of C mechanisms at work, the participants point out that CL builds a base for salutogenesis and is a major general C mechanism (Table 5). Altogether, 10 statements refer to the idea that loving one's work and working with people creates happiness and well-being, and thereby acts as a strong social C mechanism. P1, a female German leader, says:



"Working within loving relationships makes me happy."

An absence of love results in poor health. P3, a male, South African leader, states the following:

"Love relationships impact strongly on my mental health and well-being. I am loved by my family; thus I feel loved and are very happy. However, my organisation is not always in love with me, which impact strongly on my well-being at work. I am not loved by my organisation due to my race, and political agendas. New policies are now recommended that white people not be considered for promotion, to advance black people. This impacts very negatively on my sentiments for my organisation."

For this leader, the organisation shows love if it acts non-discriminatory. However, this leader does not feel loved because he is structurally discriminated against with regard to his race. This structural discrimination in South Africa is founded in compensation policies and mechanisms stemming from socio-historical discrimination. Therefore, the attitude of this leader could be judged as "non-loving" in a way, because he does not appreciate that the policies are made to compensate for previous injustice. He only sees the policy as being non-loving, since advantages are given to members of other race groups in this case.

Seven individuals view CL as an intra-personal resource—a self-coping mechanism. P22, a German female leader, emphasises:

"There is a close connection between love and mental health. Without love—not to love and to feel, not to be loved—makes you sick. Persons get isolated. But for mental health, it is important, to love yourself to cope with all the challenges. Love is a big resource for myself. It is part of me."

Further statements regarding CL refer to general CL concepts, seeing CL as a human approach to deal with challenges in life and at work. Again, seven individuals highlight self-love as a key to C, while five people emphasise that loving social support improves mental health. Finally, a few participants view CL as a balancing approach and two people highlight that CL creates a feeling of safety and acts as a coping mechanism.
