Lesson #1: Turn Personal Setbacks Into Stepping Stones

Van Gorder could have let his career-ending injury define him. Instead, he used his experience as a patient to fuel a new mission. Starting as director of security at the hospital where he received treatment, he worked his way through graduate school and into hospital administration.

“There are points in life when you can fall down, or you can fall up,” he told me. His choice to fall up eventually positioned him to help others do the same.

This isn’t just about positive thinking – it’s about finding purpose in adversity. When leaders embrace their own vulnerability and transformation, they create space for others to do the same.

Lesson #2: Structural Change Requires Cultural Change

When Van Gorder took over Scripps Health, he knew that financial turnaround wouldn’t come from cost-cutting alone. He needed to fundamentally change how the organization operated.

Inspired by a trip to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, he committed to creating a more horizontal structure that emphasized listening to staff and physicians. But he didn’t just announce changes – he built buy-in through

• Regular Q&A sessions with frontline employees.
• Creating the Scripps Leadership Academy.
• Establishing a Physicians Leadership Cabinet.
• Full-day retreats with key stakeholders.

The result? Physicians who once focused solely on individual concerns began thinking about what was best for the entire organization. “They moved away from what’s good for me to what’s good for the group,” Van Gorder explains. “It’s been incredibly powerful.”

Lesson #3: Create Systems of Care That Scale

Love in business isn’t just about individual acts of kindness – it’s about creating systems that institutionalize care. Van Gorder established

• An “employee concierge” position dedicated to supporting staff during crises.
• The Hope Fund, an employee-sponsored program to help coworkers in need.
• Leadership development programs that embed caring into the organizational culture.

These weren’t just feel-good initiatives. They helped create the kind of workplace culture that consistently lands Scripps on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and drives strong financial performance.

Lesson #4: Lead with Both Head and Heart

Here’s what many leaders get wrong: They think leading with love means abandoning business discipline. Van Gorder proves otherwise. Under his leadership, Scripps Health achieved

• Financial turnaround from losses to sustained profitability and a post-Covid comeback.
• High ratings for both patient and employee satisfaction.
• Industry leadership in healthcare innovation.
• Strong community impact.

“You could argue it is good business to take care of your employees,” Van Gorder says, “but I think we’ve gone beyond that. This is an organization that already has passion because we’re caregivers. If we don’t love our people, they’re not going to be able to love our patients.”

Lesson #5: Build Love Into Your Business DNA

Perhaps the most powerful leadership lesson from Van Gorder’s story is how he embedded love into the very structure of Scripps Health. This wasn’t about occasional team-building exercises or motivational speeches. It was about creating

• Clear pathways for employee advancement.
• Robust communication channels at all levels.
• Systems for recognizing and rewarding excellence.
• Mechanisms for supporting employees through challenges.

From Healthcare to Greeting Cards

This systematic approach to love in business isn’t unique to healthcare. Consider how John Beeder, former president and CEO of American Greetings (AG), revolutionized a century-old company by putting love at the center of its strategy.

When faced with crafting yet another corporate mission statement, Beeder did something radical – he locked the company’s co-CEOs (the great-grandsons of the founder) in a conference room and asked them to define their core purpose.

Twenty minutes later, they emerged with something profound: “We create happiness, laughter, and love.”

This wasn’t just another feel-good slogan. It became the catalyst for transforming every aspect of their business. When the company decided to build a new headquarters, they didn’t just construct an office building. They created the Creative Studios – a 600,000-square-foot space designed specifically to support their love-centered mission. Natural light floods work areas, a town square encourages community, and there’s even an outdoor park on the rooftop.

The results? Employee engagement soared, creativity flourished, and the business improved through higher profits and greater market share. “It captured the imagination of the associates,” Beeder said. “The customers said, ‘I get it now.’ If you talked to all of our constituencies, the entire 360 degrees, everybody got it.”

And to make absolutely sure that everyone did, indeed, get it, they painted their mission statement – “We create happiness, laughter, and love” – prominently on their lobby wall, making their commitment to love visible to everyone who enters.

The Challenge for Modern Leaders

The business world faces unprecedented challenges: technological disruption, changing workforce expectations, global competition, and more. Many leaders respond by doubling down on efficiency and automation.

But Van Gorder’s and Beeder’s examples show us a different path. By making love the foundation of your business strategy – not just in words but in systems, structures, and daily operations – you can build organizations that

• Attract and retain top talent.
• Drive innovation through collaboration.
• Build deep customer loyalty.
• Achieve sustainable growth.
• Create a meaningful impact.

The question isn’t whether love belongs in business. The question is: How will you build love into your organization’s DNA?

Start by asking yourself,

• How do your systems support or hinder expressions of love?
• What structures could you create to institutionalize care?
• How might you measure and reward acts of love in your organization?

Remember: Love isn’t just an emotion or an attitude. It’s a strategic advantage that, when properly systematized, can transform your entire organization.

That’s not just theory – that’s damn good business.