Chapter 5: Loving the One
When you are done with this section, you will be able to...
Define the concept of loving the one and its role in social impact work.
Understand how to grow your love for the one through personal connection, active listening, and increasing empathy.
Explain how loving the one improves your ability to develop effective solutions.
INTRODUCTION
Loving the one is the center of the Social Impact Cycle and drives the rest of the social problem-solving process. This core principle supports the belief that when genuine care for an individual guides the decision-making process, better solutions are built. Focusing on loving the one creates opportunities to build relationships, nurture understanding, and improve social impact strategies.
Loving the one also means striving to understand the one. They are the experts on the issue they’re living with. Their knowledge, perspectives, and suggestions are valuable. By grounding social impact work in the lived experiences of those affected by the social issue, you can clarify need, gain greater insight into how an intervention might affect the local population, and facilitate co-creation.
This chapter addresses how you can learn to love the one within your own work and how embodying this principle plays an important role in laying the foundation for lasting social impact.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “LOVE THE ONE”?
Loving the one means your mission is not a distant institutional endeavor but a deeply human one, grounded in genuine care and compassion for each person individually.1 It keeps you tethered to those you serve: listening to their personal narratives, empathizing with their experiences, and hoping alongside them as you work toward meaningful change.2 Loving the one is at the heart of this work, and is the core principle you must return to in each phase of the Social Impact Cycle.
The act of loving the one cultivates connection and helps you gain insight into the effectiveness of your efforts on an individual scale. It not only shapes the way you approach your work but also sets the standard by which you judge it. Nurturing relationships with those affected by a social problem can give you honest insight into whether your efforts are actually making a difference. This consistent connection helps to build trust, facilitate valuable feedback, and encourage co-creation. Ultimately, the principle of loving the one is powerful because it centers social impact efforts around the needs of real people.
HOW CAN YOU GROW YOUR LOVE FOR THE ONE?
Outlined below are three ways you can deepen your love for the one. These methods work together to help you better understand and address the unique needs of the individuals you serve, while also cultivating a heartfelt commitment to their well-being.
Loving the One Through Personal Connection
Central to any comprehensive social impact approach is recognizing the indispensable power of personal connections.3 These connections are vital in gaining a holistic understanding of complex social issues and in discovering meaningful interventions. One way to strengthen your personal connection to individuals and the issue is through personal narratives.
Personal narratives are the life stories of individuals who have been negatively affected by a social issue.4 These narratives fuel empathy by expanding your ability to consider the reality of these circumstances. How might you feel if you were dealing with the same problem? How would you act as a result? By listening to the detailed experiences of individuals impacted by the social issue, you’re able to connect abstract problems to genuine human experiences. Immersing yourselves in these narratives can help reaffirm your commitment to the cause and strengthen your desire for change.
Personal narratives can be shared and gathered through organic human conversations or formal methods like interviews and focus groups.5 Though these qualitative research methods emphasize observation rather than tangible data, they play a critical role in your social impact efforts. Your work should be founded on these human stories. Being intentional in seeking out personal narratives allows you to participate in active engagement (deliberate, nonjudgmental interactions) with people and their experiences.6 This active engagement can provide profound insight into the struggles, aspirations, and unique perspectives of the individuals experiencing the problem, allowing you to reframe your understanding of the issue and root your solutions firmly in the reality of human experience.
Loving the One Through Active Listening
Active listening is an essential tool in loving the one. However, because active listening is a skill, it often requires practice. Those involved in social impact work must learn how to suspend judgment, dismiss preconceived notions, and offer their undivided attention to those they are speaking with, particularly those of the affected population. This kind of dedicated attention creates a secure and receptive space where individuals feel empowered to express themselves authentically, being secure in the knowledge that they are genuinely heard.7
Active listening builds connection and trust between the listener and the speaker. It also serves as a gateway to discovering unspoken needs and concealed challenges that an individual may be facing.8 These needs are often obscured by the large-scale consequences of a social issue. However, the environment created by active listening gives affected individuals the opportunity to discuss concerns and shed light on crucial areas that warrant additional attention and support.9 As a result, this emotionally safe space fosters greater love and understanding between both parties.
Loving the One by Increasing Empathy
Empathy–the ability to understand another person’s emotions or experiences from their perspective–functions as a guiding force in your journey through the domain of social impact. It equips you to not only recognize an issue but also delve into its underlying causes and anticipate its broader implications.10
Empathy is not a static sentiment; it is a catalyst for meaningful action.11 Developing empathy for the one often happens naturally as you actively listen to the personal narratives of the affected population. However, empathy can also be increased through acts of intentional service. Service is a conduit for increasing love. As you actively serve the affected population, your love for them grows, you develop a deeper understanding of the problem, and you learn how to build solutions that will benefit individual people. When solutions are grounded in love and empathy, social impact work becomes heartfelt service for the one.
SUMMARY
As you navigate the intricate terrain of social impact, you can use the skills associated with “loving the one” to magnify your work. Forming personal connections, actively listening, and increasing empathy are not merely soft skills; they are the cornerstones upon which you build your understanding of a social issue and its potential solutions.12 The individuals you connect with serve as poignant reminders of why you engage in this demanding field.13 It is through these personal connections that you internalize the profound importance of addressing the problems faced by one person. Once you see how a solution changes one person’s life, you are better able to scale that solution to benefit a larger population.14
Who are some exemplary people in your life who love the one through personal connection, active listening, and empathy?
Think of a specific example where you saw them use these skills.
ENDNOTES
1 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
2 - Rogers, C. R. (1957). “The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change.” Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21(2), 95-103: Eva Witesman
3 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
4 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
5 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
6 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
7 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
8 - Brownell, J. (2012). Listening: Attitudes, Principles, and Skills (5th ed.). Pearson.
9 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
10 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
11 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
12 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
13 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.
14 - “Loving the One: A Humanizing View of Social Problems.” 2026. Ballard Center. April 15, 2026. https://ballardcenter.byu.edu/resources-section/loving-the-one-a-humanizing-view-of-social-problems.