Humanising a Decision the Heart Led Way
By Krystyna Weston
In life and work, it’s easy to get caught up focussing on inputs that do not truly serve us or the people around us. We make so many decisions on autopilot, out of our unconscious patterns and beliefs or from habit.
Many of us are more concerned we please our superiors or others in our lives rather than standing by our values and what is right and virtuous. We worry about what others will think of us, both positive and negative, rather than making decisions from our own hearts.
Deep down, we all know what is right and wrong. Yet, so many other elements, including our beliefs, biases and behaviours, get in the way.
In our personal lives, we yearn for more meaningful connections, more community and more understanding, yet our own decisions often thwart the very things we desire.
In our business lives, we yearn for more flexibility, community, work life balance, the opportunity to express ourselves and our creativity. Yet, the decisions of our leaders often thwart the very things we desire.
Our communities yearn for an understanding of their needs, respect and acceptance, yet our decision-makers often thwart the very things our communities desire.
To facilitate more Heart Led Decisions in business and life, I have created a simple Heart Led Decisions© Framework.
In this story I start to share the cornerstones of my Heart Led Decisions© Framework by discussing the first letter of the HEART mnemonic ‘H”.
This is the second article in a series of stories discussing my Heart Led Decisions Framework.
Heart Led Decisions© have the following steps:
H — Humanise
E — Empathise
A — Authenticate
R — Rationale
T- Tangibilise
H
HUMANISE
‘If there is to be any permanent improvement in man and any better social order, it must come mainly from the education and humanising of man.’
Clarence Darrow 1857–1938
When we humanise a decision, we give it a human character. We ask ourselves how will this impact the person and the people? By humanising a decision, we are forced to assess not just the rational, physical and financial aspects. We are called to consider the human impact of a decision.
It’s easy to forget what is most important in life.
Western society is highly focussed on profit and financial gain. For many, it’s a key and, at times, the only metric of success. We seem to value this over all other outcomes. As leaders, financial metrics are also one of the main KPI’s we are judged on. The share price increase, growth in revenue, reduction in expenditure and profit margin being amongst the favoured ones.
In a world where the pursuit of profit is highly regarded, it is easy to forget that once all of that is stripped away, we are left with people and the quality of our relationships to sustain us.
If you aspire to be a Heart Led Leader, when making important decisions or reviewing a significant decision, ask who is impacted by this decision? Are you personally affected? Are others impacted?
Never ever forget it’s only and always about the people.
Money, profit, and positional power come and go. When we strip everything away, the reason we are human is that we value human life. When we are humane, we value the quality of life we lead and the quality of the lives of the people we serve.
When making any important decision or assessing a course of action, it’s essential to first identify the key stakeholders, as they will benefit from or be harmed by the decision. Rather than focussing only on the dollars, stop and consider how this decision will affect you and the people entrusted to your care.
Ultimately it’s people who are the victims or beneficiaries of decisions. Even in business, it is the people who are impacted. It’s the people who pay the price for poorly considered and heart less decisions.
There are two aspects to humanising a decision
- Others
- Self
OTHERS — How will this affect the people entrusted to my care- family/friends/colleagues/community?
To be humane is something many workplaces have lost sight of.
With a reset in the nature and place of work, we have an opportunity to consider what practices and protocols are going to be the most humane. I am not talking about sweatshops here. I refer to the many white-collar workplaces (and I have worked in some) where an individual’s humanity is not truly considered. I’m referring to workplaces where outdated work practices persist, where teams are led by ‘out of touch’ leaders clinging to the positional power they believe they hold. Leaders who are more focused on winning and getting ahead at all costs rather than considering the real impact of their decisions.
When we consider our humanness and the humanness of those we lead, we engender more commitment from our people. This, in turn, results in increased productivity and financial rewards.
When we treat our people as servants, dictating terms and how they should carry out their work, we fail to recognise their humanness. This path engenders resentment and creates dissent amongst team members. In this scenario, people feel caged, stifled and even victimised. Creativity and innovation are often missing in these organisations. Like any disease, discord can spread quickly. These are not happy organisations to work in.
SELF — How does this decision sit with me?
The second aspect of humanising a decision is understanding how that decision resonates with you as a human. This is a skill in itself.
When faced with an important decision, consciously ask your SELF how the decision resonates with you. Is it sitting comfortably in your humanness, or is your human body responding and sending you messages that something is “off” about this decision? Do you have a sick feeling in your gut? Are your shoulders suddenly feeling heavy under the weight of the decision you are making? We all know when a decision does not sit well with us, even if we can’t in that moment explain why. We may not consciously be aware; however, there are still strong signals in our bodies when a decision is at odds with our personal values.
Our emotions are important signals letting us know if we are aligned with our decisions.
Having concluded a course of action doesn’t sound/smell/look/feel right, you are then faced with one of the most important decisions you will make. Will you go along with the decision knowing it is wrong, or will you speak up?
What role do your beliefs, biases and behaviours play in this decision? What gives you the courage to stand up for what is right and just and what holds you back?
There are many reasons we make decisions that neither serve the people we lead, or us, and these will be covered in greater detail in future stories.
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.
I invite courageous leaders to embrace Heart Led Decisions© over heart less decisions and create harmonious and congruent environments, communities and businesses. If you would like to make more Heart Led Decisions© in your organisation, I would love to share how!
My next story will explore the second letter in my HEART Led Decisions mnemonic — “E”. EMPATHISE.
