Gotta love that song, right? http://youtu.be/TCBttS_y7lE

I know that I do and sometimes I find myself humming it in the strangest of circumstances:

• My networking contact continually offers proclamations of “love” yet there is never an introduction sent my way.
• My client gets downright “gushy” about how much they “love” me yet they find it necessary to cut the budget.
• A vendor on whom I am waiting for a project is late with their deliverables yet, of course, they shoot me ongoing emails with excuses for their lateness and always closing with “love ya.”

It’s business…what’s love got to do with it?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a firm believer that people do business with people that they like AND respect, especially when they have options. But love, let’s leave that out of it, shall we?

It seems a pat phrase, easy enough to say, hard enough to act on and just a whole lot of bullshit when used in the workplace. Call me cynical but I dare say that the love people keep stating is often a rationale, excuse or diversion from the real situation at hand.

But if you love me, really love me and then as they “show me the love” because as they also say “actions speak louder than words.”