What if we start talking about HEART in the business world?
(I wrote this nearly two years ago and I guess you could say that it just sat with me until I realized just how much our world needs this right now.)
Heart, it is the centre of our very existence. Our hearts beat, facilitating every breath that we take. Without heart, we cease to live or to breathe.
For most of my life, I have been a competitive athlete and sports coach and I grew up in a family immersed in sports. While dedication, tenacity and focus are important, all of the best athletes in the world will tell you that performance comes down to heart. To play with heart means to give so much of yourself physically and mentally during the game that when the whistle blows, you will hold your head high and be proud of yourself and your team, regardless of a win or loss.
There are defining moments. In the final seconds of a hockey game gone to overtime, and then to a shootout, with the final shooter determining the outcome of the entire game. And when the puck hits the cross bar with a ping so loud that it rings through the entire rink … the game is lost but the player with heart doesn’t give up. He picks himself up and he learns and he remembers, until the next game when he will be ready again to give it all he has.
Heart is what makes a difference. True leaders have that fire in their belly that helps them dig a little deeper and to fight when they feel like giving up. In those moments when they are exhausted and feel as if they have nothing left, they somehow find the heart to do things that seem physically impossible. To make that bone crunching hit, to catch that uncatchable ball, or to outrun their opponents.
So why do we say heart in the sports world but NOT in the business world?
In my 17 years working in Corporate Sales and business development, we talked frequently about gut feelings and about instincts. We talked about the necessity of hard work and of putting in your best effort. We dug deep. We tried our hardest. We did the work and we got incredibly focused. But we sure didn’t talk about heart.
So why exactly don’t we talk about the importance of working with heart? Why are we okay with saying “follow your gut” but not follow your heart in business? What is it about the word heart that some think is maybe just a little too “soft”?
When we are working from our hearts; when we are trusting in our instincts; when we follow our truths and when we are most alive, we are on fire doing heart-work. We truly are. It is ALL heart. And honestly, now more than ever, we must dig deep and we must lead from the heart.
We can choose to start there first. Leaders, CEOs, bosses, managers, mentors … I implore you. Please work from the heart. Speak from the heart. And listen intently to what people truly need and want. Start with their hearts first too. As Steve Jobs said, “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs
We must love what we do. We must be alive. And we cannot be alive without heart. If you’re not doing what you love or doing your work of heart, what kind of work are you doing? If we start with heart-led leadership, we can change the world one person, one business, one heart, one day at a time. And isn’t that what we all want?
(Originally posted on LinkedIn April 30, 2020)