We were lucky to catch up with Utibe` Bassey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Utibe`, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Love as a KPI is a relatively terse expression that is resultant of nearly 20 years of work experience across industries, functions and geographies, personal observations, learnings, challenges and clear conviction.

It proposes a significant shift from an existing paradigm on the role of businesses – specifically, the people who comprise them – towards people.

We believe that when organizations are driven by Love for people – regardless of if those people are termed ‘customers’ or ‘employees’ (or ‘suppliers’… or ‘community members’… or any category we place the humans that comprise the ecosystem of every organization in) – it exponentially drives the financial, operational and strategic success of a business.

Organizations often treat people (customers, employees etc) as a means to a financial or strategic end.

I do not people should be a ‘means’ to the end. I believe ‘loving people’ should be the end of business in itself, and as a consequence, those people will respond with loyalty, advocacy, engagement, brand preference and many elements that organizations vie for.

Love as we mean it is not a feeling. Not a mushy undefined thing. Not high-fives. Not ‘niceness’

The definition of ‘love’ that Love as a KPI work anchors on is this: Love is the outcome of the perspective, posture and practice that prioritizes the true needs and betterment of another.

I believe not enough people in the business world are talking about or dealing with the foundation of a lot of business problems tied to attrition, disengagement (customer and employee) and poor market fit: how we see people and consequently how we treat them.

Not enough people are is evaluating the deep role business plays in society – the deposit they leave in people daily.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Utibe

At the core of everything, I care about:

1. How people see/treat themselves (mind/self-imposed limits/confidence)
2. How people see/treat others (unfair treatment, staff, customers)

I am here to help people see themselves and others the way God sees them.

I have experience in leading large-scale organizational transformation in a human way and designing human-centered organizations, products and services from the ground up. I also I have a depth of knowledge, experience and expertise in Transformational leadership – helping people see that they are more than they thought, so they can do more and be more.

My intenton is to enable leaders of people, products and systmes see themselves and see others (e.g. customers, constituents) differently – as important, as worthy and through the eyes of LOVE. Which inadvertently drives those business and organizational outcomes.

Love as a KPI is not just an ideology – is a teaching platform intended to equip leaders to drive stronger and more sustainable positive business, team and individual outcomes through loving people.

When leaders embrace ‘Love as a KPI’ as a credo, the outcomes it naturally produ ces are on multiple levels

For Businesses
Increased Employee Engagement and Productivity
Reduced turnover and absenteeism
Higher Customer Retention, Satisfaction and Loyalty
Risk mitigation tied to employee behavior
Enhanced Creativity and Innovation
Stronger Brand Reputation

For Teams
Clearer and more compelling Vision and Direction
Stronger alignment and cohesiveness
Shared standards and values

For the Leaders themselves
Greater Clarity on your Identity
Deeper Insight on your Purpose as a Leader
Definition of your legacy

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the more significant paradigm shifts for me is that – every role, every venture should really be in service of others, and our minds need to imbibe that fully so that our actions embody service. For a very long time, the instincts I had on the notion of Love as a KPI were silenced, shushed, pushed down etc as I got in my own head. ‘Who am I to…’, ‘What would it look like from the outside…’, ‘Maybe when xyz happens’ – all of these perhaps logical reasons were the ways I let the light that was supposed to shine THROUGH me to others be dimmed.

I had to really understand that every message we are given to voice, every solution we have to a problem – is not for us. Its a gift to the world (each of us has our corner of the world at large that we are meant to impact) – and when we make it about us, our comfort, our ego etc, its beyond a disservice. It’s selfish.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There have been of course very many resources that have impacted my thinking and undergird how I approach all aspects of life. This one I will share – is a small part of an overall resource but it really is the one that came to mind. 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey includes a habit called ‘start with the end in mind’.

To be honest, I thought this way before I read the book (I’ve written my eulogy twice and I re-read/tweak it each year – so I really start with the end) – but reading it solidified and really deepened the wisdom in that principle for me.

It begs each of us to be clear on the story we want to tell – not just by the end of our lives but at the end of any day or at the end of a meeting or at the end of a relationship or…

Starting with the end in mind declutters our thoughts and filters out noise very quickly. It gives purpose to our NOs, and significance to our Yeses.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.loveasakpi.com
• Instagram: loveasakpi
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/utbassey
• Twitter: loveasakpi
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LoveasaKPI