A Musing About Love
I started working in the video game industry in 2008. It was love at first sight. Blizzard Entertainment was expanding their training and development department and among other things, they wanted me to help design and facilitate learning. Immediately I was surrounded by smart, thoughtful, quirky, creative, passionate, determined people. They challenged me and made me better. Since starting my own training & development company a few years ago and working with lots of different game companies, I now know that amazing people and co-workers were not exclusive to Blizzard. The games space has been, and still is, full of extraordinary humans.
Because of this, I started and stopped writing this musing multiple times this past week. For those of you not working in the games industry, February has been a particularly brutal month with thousands of people having lost their jobs. It is the most layoffs I have ever seen at one time. How can I write about love at a time like this? Will some think me too ‘Pollyanna’? Shouldn’t I be writing about how to deal with anger or frustration? Why not write about resilience strategies or something else more practical? Insert a big, exasperated sigh and fear of judgement <here>.
But then I asked myself a crystallizing question. What do I what to put out into the world at this particular time? There was speed and conviction in my answer: I want to share and celebrate the good I see, despite (or in spite of) some of the darkness that surrounds it. I promptly let go of my hesitations. Love always wins after all, so let’s jump in…
Love is not a word we say a lot, if at all, when talking about work. Rightly so in many cases. Using the L-word or phrases like “we are a family” when it pertains to our jobs is problematic. Your employer is not your family and to expect a business, particularly a public organization, to operate as such is a mistake that can lead to unmet expectations and heavy disappointment among other things. Believe me! Love is also not a word we see when talking about layoffs, especially a seemingly endless stream of them. Scrolling LinkedIn continues to result in heartache for many of us. It can feel dark and hopeless thinking about the scale of it all and the impact on so many families, friends, and co-workers.
There is a time and place for all of that anger, sadness, and frustration. All of those feelings are important. And to be clear, this musing is not an attempt to get you to feel otherwise, especially if those emotions are strong for you right now. It’s just that over this past month, the very same LinkedIn “doom” scrolling showed me something else: LOVE.
To quote a personal rom-com favorite, Hugh Grant, “love actually is…all around”. Some examples:
Former and current colleagues highlighting each other’s work and capabilities.
Offers from strangers to help mentor or review resumes.
Reposts and reshares touting the excellence of others, open roles, and other resources.
Amir Satvat and his team of volunteers boosting various levels of support across the gaming community.
Endless statements of care, virtual hugs, and offers of help.
Previously laid off folks (still stinging and experiencing their own stresses) offering job search tips and ideas for self-care to those more recently affected by a layoff.
Recruiters sharing vital information around how to navigate the current job market.
People organizing meetups for connection and catharsis.
Mental health resources are being elevated.
Countless hits of the like, love, support, or celebrate emojis to increase visibility and the chances of matching job seekers with job hunters.
In this context, consider love as a verb: rooted in actions. Actions that demonstrate care, recognize contributions, and above all, communicate a message that a person (and what they do) matters. We are witnessing so many acts of love, both big and small. It is frackin’ beautiful! Seeing all these acts of love gives me great comfort. And, perhaps more importantly, they have given me (maybe us?) fuel. Energy. Strength. Courage. Community. That’s powerful and feels worth memorializing in this small way.
So, for the few remaining moments of February 2024, I acknowledge and celebrate all the expressions of love that made their way to those that needed it, and even to those that didn’t. Thank you for the inspiration and for taking some of the sting out of what’s been happening. Thank you for showing up for each other in positive ways! Thank you for leading with love.