How To Make Heart Led Decisions©
by Krystyna Weston
The new normal requires leaders to lead with heart… but what does this mean in a practical sense?
Heart Led decision-makers are courageous, vulnerable and values-driven. They have developed skills to access and interpret their emotions and the emotions of others. They make their best decisions by engaging more than their brain.
Every day we witness the consequences of heartless decisions, decisions that shock and outrage so many of us.
We are less tolerant and more outraged when we witness heartless acts and decisions by those entrusted with the leader’s role. Our collective consciousness has shifted. Our acceptance thresholds for heartless decisions has radically altered, and more of us are speaking out.
Communities of all shapes and sizes all around the world are demanding Heart Led Decisions. We are demanding Heart Led Decisions© and actions over heartless decisions and actions. We are making our feelings known loud and clear.
More of us are saying, “It’s not OK!”
It's not OK for leaders to:
- Put profit ahead of people and community
- Choose economic benefits over the wellbeing of people in our community
- To participate in or condone bullying at work
- Harass, intimidate, sexually assault people in the workplace. In fact, it’s not ok under any circumstance
- Use social media for evil rather than good
- Restrain a person in such a way that results in their death
- Tolerate the poor treatment of our elders, particularly in aged care settings
- Tolerate the inhumane treatment of people with disabilities
- Prey on vulnerable children and abuse them in their sporting community or any other context
- Engage in political corruption and “cash for contracts”
- Cover up child abuse and molestation in church settings
- Blatantly lie and withhold facts from teams and the community
- Use racial slurs to intimidate and belittle another
- The list goes on…
Leaders all around the world are letting us down. The key complaint is our leaders are out of touch, tone-deaf, lacking in empathy and heartless.
Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index speaks of what has been dubbed the “Great Resignation” with over 40 percent of the global workforce considering leaving their employer this year. It sites
‘leaders are out of touch with employees and need a wake-up call’.
Whilst leaders at all levels of society are disconnected from their hearts and the hearts of the communities they lead, heartless decisions will persist.
Whilst we cannot feel the consequences of our choices, and the impact these decisions have on others, we will continue travelling on the same trajectory — disappointing and outraging the communities we have been entrusted to lead.
Heart Led Leaders are courageous, vulnerable and values-driven. They have developed skills to access and interpret their emotions and the emotions of others. They make their best decisions by engaging more than their brain.
My Heart Led Decisions© Framework has the following steps:
H — Humanise
E — Empathise
A — Authenticate
R — Rationale
T — Tangibilise
Over coming stories I will discuss each element of H.E.A.R.T and how to apply this framework for both personal and business decisions.
I invite courageous leaders to embrace Heart Led Decisions over heartless decisions and create harmonious and congruous environments, communities and businesses.
If you would like to make more Heart Led Decisions© in your organisation, I would love to share how!
I have been writing a book “Finding Heart — How to make Heart Led Decisions”. In advance of publishing, it felt important to share my framework for Heart Led Decisions©
