When I sat down with Josh Farley, owner of Kilowatt Electric, for an episode of Building Loved Businesses, one thing became immediately clear, leadership isn’t about control, it’s about connection.

Josh’s story is a reminder that managing people isn’t about policies, systems, or metrics, it’s about the human element that ties it all together.

He told me that early in his leadership journey, he thought success meant having all the answers. But over time, he realized that real leadership comes from asking better questions, from getting to know his team members as people, not just employees.

That shift changed everything. It helped him build loyalty, improve accountability, and create a workplace culture where people genuinely care about the work they do and the people they do it with.

Josh put it perfectly: “When you take the time to understand people, their motivations, their challenges, their goals, they don’t just work for you; they work with you.”

It’s such a simple truth, but one that’s easy to overlook when you’re buried in the day-to-day demands of running a business. Culture isn’t something you write on a poster or define in a meeting, it’s something you live, every single day.

That’s the kind of leadership that builds loved businesses: organizations where people feel seen, supported, and valued for who they are.

If you want your team to care about your mission, start by caring about them.