It is often overlooked.

It is never in a KPI.

But it is impossible to overstate value of the heart with which you work.

I had a meeting last year with some bigwigs who put me on the spot pretty bad. I didn’t do so well. I stammered, I fumbled, I tried to be honest. In the end, I eked out a survival. As we left, my colleague said to me, “That was a tough meeting. But your heart came through, and that’s what saved it.”

Right now, I’m working on a big community project, one that will not be a success if the community itself fails to embrace it. We’ve been working the phones, going to every local meeting, and visiting every church and school in the area, and I can tell you this with certainty: if we did not approach this project with the right heart; if we did not genuinely believe in the initiative and care for the wellbeing of the people with whom we speak; if we did not bring a healthy dose of humility and servitude to our encounters, we would be halted in our tracks.

You cannot overstate the value of the heart with which you work.

So often, we think what we really need is more policies or better procedures. We think that we need to define deliverables more clearly and measure metrics more accurately, when what we really need is to ask ourselves if we are bringing the right heart to the job.

Because, as much as it’s intangible and immeasurable, your heart always comes through.

Have you ever dealt with someone who did everything by the book, and yet managed to be completely obstructive? Or have you dealt with someone who doesn’t break the rules, but makes the experience a pleasure? The difference between those two people is heart.

My friend Asaf used to do everything with heart. When he built a trade show display, he would tape down the wires on the backs of the boards so that the staff didn’t cut their fingers. Adi Sideman at Online Media Daily just included, ‘Execute with love,’ as one of his ten steps to creating viral campaigns.

Here’s the real beauty about bringing heart and love to your work: as cliched as it sounds, it is a win-win situation. It is the only thing that can give meaning to your work, regardless of how transcendental or mundane the actual tasks may be. It is uplifting, not only to your clients, but to your colleagues, your bosses, your subordinates, and, most importantly, yourself. It is the single best way to know if you are in the right career.

And ‘heart’ and ‘love’ don’t mean ‘hippie’ and ‘pushover’. Working with heart gives rise to the question, “What is the value for everyone involved?” It leads you to ask, “Is this something I can be proud of?” It allows you to wonder, “Would I want my daughter or my mother or my spouse to behave this way?”

It calls you to your higher self.

With what heart do you work?

Photo: Chris Cummings

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 7:54 am and is filed under People matter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.