Josh's Weekly Insights - May 27, 2026

“Love is the most powerful force in business.”

-Marcus Buckingham

I am currently on a vacation celebrating my 15-year anniversary and I have been reading a book called “Design Love In” by Marcus Buckingham. I learned about this book on The Learning Leader podcast with Ryan Hawk and had to look into it.

The premise of the book is simple, but so powerful. It starts with the question, “How do we design more of our experiences to bring love into the equation instead of designing it out of our products and services?”

This is where my trip has been so refreshing. As we have been cruising around Greece, the people assisting us have all been so positive in their work. From the waitress who knew my drink order by our third night on board, to the waiter who has given tips and advice to help us at dinner but also with shopping in town, to the receptionist who helped me plan a surprise evening for Brittany Collins (and it is tough to surprise her but we pulled it off!!!), each of these staff members have been very loving to us.

I also had a moment today to perform a loving act for my wife. You see, anyone who knows me understands that I don’t drink to the point where many people comment on it or ask me why. However, today I was able to go to a wine tasting with my wife and just enjoy being somewhere with her even if it wasn’t something I would opt into individually.

So,

this week, let me share something Christie and I teach in class called the ED Principle. It is essentially that you don’t have to be interested in the topic to be interested in the other person. I learned a lot about wine today and even though it isn’t an interest of mine, I now know more about an interest of hers. I saw different thicknesses in the wine, smelled the different aromas, and watched someone I love enjoy this opportunity thoroughly.

Now as your friend, and someone on an incredible trip celebrating 15 years of marriage, let me answer one of my favorite questions to ask people who have been married for a long time. “What is your best advice for a successful marriage?” My answer would be, to love the person so unconditionally that you are willing to spend time with them doing things they love. If both of you can do so with nothing but joy in your heart for the time and experiences, you are creating together then I can almost guarantee a happy marriage.

And in the world of work, don’t settle for a job that you hate or being surrounded by people that you don’t love working with. Those are my two secrets to a loving workplace (even though Marcus would give you 5). Thank you, Christie Drexler, for letting me join your team and do something I love with people I love working with! Thank you, Stacey Burke, for being an incredible team member to collaborate with and make it easy to show up and deliver on time!

Now get out there and crush your week!