5 Questions with Lerzan Aksoy and Timothy Keiningham, authors of Why Loyalty Matters

 

1. Why does loyalty matter so much?

Loyalty matters in all aspects of our lives because everything we hope to accomplish,
our dreams, our goals, whether personal and professional is going to be with and through
other people. We need each other! To get what we want in life and to be happy…
Loyalty is the glue that binds these relationships. Without loyalty our relationships
become mere acquaintances and lack the sort of depth that we need as humans to
fulfill us. This is not to say that all our relationships have to be based on loyalty but we
definitely need some!

2. What's the best example of how loyalty matters in the book?

The best example of loyalty in the book is one in the chapter is about the friendship
between Frank Sinatra and his fellow rat packer Sammy Davis Jr. When Sinatra could
no longer bear Davis’s drug use, he acted out of true loyalty and love by confronting
Sammy. “Look,’ Sinatra said, ‘God put you here for a lot of reasons that you and I don’t
even know about. He gave you a talent, and you’re abusing it. And I’m watching my
friends go down the tubes. I loved you when you were nothing. I’ll love you when you
go back to being nothing. But you’re cheating yourself. You’re cheating your public and
as long as you’re going to do that then I don’t want to be around you.’ Sammy heard
Frank’s message and he kept his word to quit drugs. Loyalty to a friend sometimes
means letting go. It means being loyal to their highest and best self as well.

3. What's a good way to instantly build loyalty with someone?

We all wish this could happen instantly. But unfortunately this rarely happens. Just
as trust takes time to build, so does loyalty! The important point here is that you have
to keep working at it and dedicating time and effort to your relationships. Ironically,
our research shows that most people do not spend the time and effort to build these
relationships.

4. How has loyalty improved your work life?

Loyalty in the workplace is just as important as loyalty in our personal lives. By building
loyal relationships in the workplace we become surrounded by a group of engaged
colleagues who are productive, who dedicate themselves to the job, who are ready to do
work above and beyond what is necessary and who feel a strong connection to the team
that they work with. This provides for a workplace with happier and more fulfilled people
at their jobs who don’t merely see it as a way to make money and are ready to give 110%.

5. What's next for yourself?

Loyalty is our passion and we would like to continue on this path for future work. We
truly enjoy being in the loyalty space because we get to show how it’s good business to
be good to one another!