Insight
How the integration of Love and Work supports organisations to thrive
2 September 2025
“Love and work, work and love… that’s all there is.”
Sigmund Freud
As we re-enter the rhythms of work following a holiday period, Freud’s words invite us to consider not just our individual motivations, but also the unconscious dynamics that shape how we return, re-engage, and re-relate to work after a time of stepping away.
Holidays disrupt the flow of organisational life. For a few weeks, many of us withdraw into intimate systems of family, friends, and personal pursuits – the world of “love.” Work temporarily shifts from the forefront of our identity, and other roles – parent, partner, sibling, carer, friend – become more prominent.
When we return to work, we re-enter a different system: one that holds a different structure and task and relocating ourselves in this can at times feel challenging.
- Love represents connection, intimacy, belonging, and recognition. It is the glue that binds us together – the sense of being valued and seen in the groups to which we belong.
- Work represents productivity, purpose, and contribution. It is also the arena where our unconscious desires for achievement, approval, and competition play out.
As we return to work we may feel pulled between the familiar intimacy of family life (love) and the demands of professional contribution (work). This tension often plays out unconsciously in the workplace which may result in dynamics such disengagement and irritability.
The systems we are in
A systems-psychodynamic approach reminds us that individuals do not act in isolation but are constantly shaped by the systems they are in. Each system – family, team, organisation, society – has its own focus and cadence. When we cross the boundary from one system to another, especially after a holiday, we carry with us dynamics from the one we are leaving.
For example:
- A manager returning from time with young children may experience a loss of this close connection and unconsciously recreate parental dynamics with their team, oscillating between over-protection and frustration.
- A team may collectively collude in prolonging “holiday mode,” avoiding difficult conversations and having extended catch-ups that are not on task.
- Conversely, an organisation anxious about productivity, may defend against its own fears of slowness by demanding immediate performance, leaving little space for thought and reflection.
Integrating love and work
In each case, the system is managing anxiety related to re-entry. The temptation is to split work and love, viewing them as opposing forces: work versus family, productivity versus wellbeing. If teams can work together to resist this split and instead recognise that both aspects shape us simultaneously, organisations can thrive. Leaders play a vital role in teams navigating this integration:
- Acknowledge the transition. As leaders we can support our teams during this transition by facilitating brief check-ins and reflective spaces to process the emotional adjustments.
- Recognise value. It is essential to acknowledge the contributions and impact of each team member, allowing everyone to feel seen and valued at work.
- Support connection. Create a culture of collaboration that strengthens the team dynamics and helps team members to feel connected.
By recognising the systems we are in – family, team, organisation – and how they interrelate, we can hold the tension of love and work more consciously. As we begin a new working period, the task is not to choose between them, but to integrate them, to allow the lessons and emotional richness of one system to inform and sustain us in the other. In this way, Freud is offering us a compass for navigating the complexity of our organisational and personal lives.
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