I hope you had a great weekend and all is well with you.
As you know, I have been going through the A to Z of Success and looking at one letter each week.
Last week’s Thought for the Week was “G is for Goals” and I hope you found it thought-provoking and useful and this week’s thought leads on from that ….
This week is all about “H for Heart”.
To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart. – Thomas J. Watson
Just showing up to work is not enough to be successful in your job or your business. There must be an inner drive full of passion, enthusiasm & burning desire within you to go above the norm. Your sense of purpose must be strong as well as your self-motivation.
Is you heart in what you are doing?
Yes, there is some debate it seems around the role of the heart in business. Some say the only way to succeed in business is to follow your heart; others will tell you that is the fastest road to ruin!
Personally, I believe that there is a role for heart in everything we do.
As I spoke about last week, that passion — that fire that burns in our belly that is the reason we get up each day and hit the floor with a zest for succeeding.
Too many people lose that vision of what they set out to accomplish and with it goes the heart, the passion and, most often, their chances for true success.
Maintaining focus on what’s really important is something none of us can ever afford to lose sight of as we set out to fulfil our life’s work. And make no bones about it: it is life-work for a reason.
We should always keep top of mind that it is about how our career fits into our life and not how our life fits into our career.
For me, there is no question about the role of heart in business: it is a critical element required to succeed. Show up without it and you will fail yourself, your employees and your customers.
You have to be crystal-clear about who you are, what you stand for and follow that passion with a relentless tenacity. With heart in your main sail, you will find the momentum and drive to withstand any storm the world of business will send your way.
This is what I stand for and my clients are people who want to do business with heart. If people don’t want that, they will fall away and perhaps unsubscribe and that’s OK. And those who want his or are curious will stick around.
We are in the most challenging of times
We are in this balance between surviving very perilous times and also knowing that we are living in this very exciting time that presents us with a real opportunity for change.
We humans have not been so challenged since at least the Second World War – challenged by Covid and staying safe and in good health and the social and economic impacts of it, challenged by the Climate Crisis, challenged by inequality of opportunity, in race, gender and so much else and challenged by the fear-based strategies used by businesses in these times.
I believe that key to us moving forward is both very straightforward and very difficult – and that is for leaders and entrepreneurs from all walks of life to open their hearts!
With an open heart, it’s pretty hard to ignore the consequences to our company, our people, our families, our country and the World.
Such as people being treated like disposable objects, perpetual inequality and when people are generally self-centred and uncaring. Specifically, in business, I believe that leaders with open hearts would find it impossible to intentionally do any of these things.
It is a very exciting time as we see more and more leaders understanding the importance of opening their hearts and taking a different approach. And it’s not an easy journey. Sometimes we close our hearts to avoid feeing things that are uncomfortable because opening it can feel uncomfortable and means using it to do something differently.
Opening our hearts helps us see that we are all interconnected and need each other to survive and thrive.
Opening our hearts takes humility and vulnerability, the ability to admit we were wrong and don’t know everything.
What is a Heart-Centred Business?
Many people don’t really get what heart-centred business is all about and of course it is a good question. For instance; Heart-centred entrepreneurship isn’t social entrepreneurship. And, although social entrepreneurs do operate heart-centred businesses by definition, heart-centred businesses are not necessarily social enterprises.
A business that falls into the category of social entrepreneurship aims to solve a specific social problem using the not-for-profit business model.
Heart-centred entrepreneurship isn’t philanthropy either.
So, what is it?
A heart-centred business is simply a business driven by the passion and motivation to provide something that impacts the lives of your customers in a positive way.
So, you might well say that surely most businesses are heart-centred businesses then. And of course, we don’t want to only rule our business with our hearts.
We have to balance this with keeping our head!
And for many very successful entrepreneurs and leaders, this is a given for running a successful, modern business. And the key phrase here is ‘successful business’.
We don’t want to be so busy trying to ‘do what we love’, ‘serving others’ and ‘sharing our unique gifts’ so we forget the fundamental principles of running any business! And that is;
To improve the lives of as many people as possible, our business needs to grow and in order to grow our business, we need to make a profit.
Without making a profit, of course we won’t be able to continue doing the work we want to do and serving the people we want to help.
And making money is NOT a dirty word and is needed to succeed in any business.
5 Questions to get to the heart of your business:
Ask these questions to understand the soul of your business and position it with timeless branding.
1.What is your Motto or Mission?
This is your statement of purpose and belief and what you stand for.
You probably already have one …
- Has it changed?
- Is it heart-based?
- Is it serving your clients well as well as you and your company?
- Is it inspirational and energising to you and / or your team?
For example; Harley Davidson’s “Live to Ride, Ride to Live.” Your motto should be the core of your brand strategy, decisions, behaviours and messages.
2.What is your story behind your business?
Why does this matter?
Stories inspire us. They are the emotional glue that create meaningful experiences between a company and its clients and audience.
Stories speak directly to the human condition, to our hard-wired emotions and instincts and we know that people buy through their emotions.
Ask yourself, what is my / our story? Is it meaningful? Why should anyone care?
Speak heart to heart with your clients and your audience.
3.what is your big shiny goal and greatest vision?
As in last week’s Thought for the Week!
If money, time and energy were no obstacle, what would you do?
While most people think, “Well, time, money and energy are my obstacles,” this type of thinking limits your ability to think big!
By communicating your vision without constraints, you are able to picture what you truly desire and take the necessary steps to move your business towards that vision.
4.What is your plan for growth?
Even if you don’t want to grow your business further, every business follows a path and that path will undoubtedly include various turns, obstacles and re-routes; it’s the nature of business.
There is a difference between having a job you love and having a business model that you love and is scalable.
“Do what you love, but always follow the money.” Lewis Schiff – “Business Brilliant”
You must know where you’re going. What is your destination and how will you get there?
5.Why will you succeed?
I love this question because it forces leaders and business owners to take a good, hard look at whether or not they have what it takes to succeed.
- Do you have the vision?
- Do you have the discipline it takes to overcome any obstacle?
- Do you have authenticity or proof that everything you do and say is a true expression of why you exist?
- Is all of this clearly understood by your audience?
When you can answer yes to these questions, that’s how you know you WILL succeed. You can’t have vision without discipline or authenticity — you must have all three.
From my heart to yours, I hope this has been useful and thank you for reading to the end!
If you would like my help with this then I invite you to book your FREE CLARITY SESSION with me HERE.
Have a great week!
With very best wishes for your success.
Korinne