The Heart Stuff
How leading with heart drives performance
Why do some people think that anything to do with emotion or behaviour is “soft stuff”? I worried about using the word “heart” in this article because we shy away from emotional words when it comes to work. No matter how we try to avoid talking about it: leading with heart is far from “soft”, it’s actually the hardest part of being a leader because it’s all about the tough decisions we have to make to build a sustainable organisation.
Leading with heart isn’t giving people whatever they want all the time. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about the viability of your organisation. You do care because you feel a deep sense of responsibility to the people, families and communities that depend on it. It’s AND not OR. It’s putting people and revenue first. It’s thinking short term and long term. It’s being tough and kind.
Fortunately, we are moving away from putting our work masks on as we head into the office, because apart from the fact many of us don’t have “offices” anymore, we have learnt that it is impossible to separate work and life. But as leaders we aren’t being deliberate about helping our people peel off the many layers of masks they may be wearing and we still aren’t that great at peeling off our own.
All leaders have a direct impact on those they lead and how their organisation performs. Being deliberate about what that impact is what distinguishes a great leader. Good leadership is a lifelong practice continuously learning and unlearning as new challenges and opportunities arise.
Click here to get the Lead with Heart for Performance Self Assessment
Today’s learning- lead with heart.
How do you show you have a heart and use your head to put it to good practice? We call this the Heart Stuff – leading with heart to drive performance. At Humankind, we practice this daily (and it really does take practice), and we support hundreds of leaders around Aotearoa to do it too. We have seen profound personal changes in individuals and organisations when leaders lean into the heart stuff through connecting people to purpose, staying the course on the vision, having a robust strategy to deliver on this, holding people to account for their performance AND caring about themselves and their people.
Leaders need to set the direction, motivate, align people to purpose and priorities, and role model the behaviours they want to see their people embrace. There are many dimensions to leadership, so we’ve broken them down to help you discover the areas you naturally lean into and see where you could be investing more time in developing.
Here’s how to start leading with heart:
Live Values
How conscious am I of my behaviour, whether others are watching or not?
Your company values are an articulation of how you expect people to show up at work. They demonstrate how people treat each other, make decisions and perform. As leaders, we need to actively role model those values, and they have to come from the heart. I expect my team to act in line with them too. There have been times when I didn’t call out behaviour that wasn’t aligned to our values, and that damaged trust and respect across the team more than the behaviour itself. Holding people to account for living the values drives performance because people see that how they do things is as important as what they do.
Translate Vision
Am I regularly engaging my team around our organisation’s vision in a way that they understand and wholeheartedly believe?
Making your organisation’s vision meaningful means sharing and explaining it regularly. Helping people imagine what it will look like when that vision has been realised. I call this "connecting the dots for people”, which requires zooming out to show how the puzzle pieces join and zooming back in to give people their individual puzzle pieces. Doing this regularly not only motivates and inspires your team, it also keeps them focused on achieving the vision.
Communicate Purpose
How do I communicate our purpose or origin story and help others do the same?
A strong purpose gives people a sense of belonging which is an innate human need.
We all want to feel connected to why our organisation exists in this world and this is what many join for. They stay because they feel connected to that purpose, are reminded regularly, and are inspired by this. An inspiring purpose or origin story serves as a guiding pillar when things get hard. The heart stuff for me is making decisions in line with our purpose and communicating this well. It means leaning into hard people decisions because it’s the right thing to do. Sharing a difficult message and demonstrating that it’s difficult whilst connecting people to purpose is far more credible than either sticking purely to facts or only sharing doom and gloom.
Deliver Strategy
How often do I reference our strategy to help my team prioritise their work and make good decisions?
Purpose and Vision are simply a fairytale without a robust, actionable strategy that gets us from current to future state. Strategy is not an annual event with a capital S, it provides the goals and outcomes that helps prioritise our work, and as a leader I am responsible for its delivery. Having a strong strategy ensures that people can provide a valuable contribution that delivers results. I have learned to trust my gut and follow my heart as this helps me change course if needed. Sometimes it means acknowledging that I made a mistake to avoid rigidly sticking to a plan that isn’t good for anyone.
Guide Operations and Maintain Attention to Results
How much am I doing to support my people and remove barriers that are in their way?
As a leader, I’m accountable for my team’s results. Good management does not equal doing the do, or wielding a big stick. It is building people up, understanding their strengths, and enabling them to think about the work they do. Guiding them to approach it in ways that deliver the best results. I try to give people a frame and the freedom to operate within it. And then provide constructive feedback that helps them grow and do better. Guiding takes patience and investment. Don’t take the easy route and do it yourself – that doesn’t benefit anyone.
Create Culture
How intentional am I in designing a thriving culture for my team?
Culture is an output of the experiences we design to enable our people to be at their best. If leaders are not deliberately creating culture for their teams, it will default to relationships, decisions and behaviours that do not contribute to good performance. Creating a culture doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch. Take a step back and observe where, when and how your team is telling stories, forming relationships and solving problems. You can work with them to create new rhythms and rituals that they get excited about. It’s a chance to shape how work gets done and how people interact. Don’t leave it to chance.
Enable People
Where am I getting in the way of my team?
You’ll know you’re leading with heart when you see the number of people in your team that grow to be leaders. I make sure to show people what I expect from them and equip them with the tools and support they need to succeed. I am there for them when they need it and then get out of the way! My job is to set people up for success and make it safe for them to fail and learn from it.
Demonstrating the heart stuff requires effort. It is a continuous process of reflection and action to keep growing as a person and a leader. We won’t get it right all the time, but people will thank you for showing up as less than perfect because it means you won’t place unrealistic expectations on them. My team sees my less-than-perfect self all the time!
Remember its “AND” not “OR”. The Heart Stuff is the hard stuff, but it really doesn’t have to be.
How to start leading with heart to drive performance:
The first step is creating space to lead yourself. How you are showing up for your organisation, knowing how you could do better, and getting the right support to do better. Our Lead with Heart for Performance self-assessment will help you discover the 7 capabilities you need to unleash the power of your team.
Click here to get the Lead with Heart for Performance Self Assessment
