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 people 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…

Whilst people at all levels of society are disconnected from their hearts and the hearts of the communities they engage with, 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 entrusted to our care.

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.

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 Decision Maker, 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 on our personal gain, stop and consider how this decision will affect you and others.

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

1. Others

2. 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?

 

Humanising a decision is a pathway to connection and better decision making

When we empathise, we understand how someone else feels. We take the time to consider what it might be like to walk in another’s shoes. We have an opportunity to make decisions that are compassionate and considerate of ourselves and others.

When we empathise in a decision framework, we explore how others are impacted and assess the decision through their eyes. We appreciate people as human beings with feelings rather than a resource to be allocated and managed.

In the Heart Led Decisions© Framework, having ‘Humanised’ and identified who will be affected, the next step is to explore how you or others will be impacted. This step invites you to consider the consequences of the decision.

 

Even if you disagree with another’s perspective, understanding others is an essential part of any decision-making process.

 

Are you challenged to name how the decision impacts you or others?

SELF

You might be surprised to see the word “self” in the context of empathy. Operating from ego and self interest seems to come naturally to humans — what we are less skilled at is understanding how a decision may impact the relationship we have with ourselves.

If you are challenged to name how a decision will impact you, decisions are at risk of being out of alignment with your values, leading to internal conflict.

When we are out of alignment we are like a tree in a wild storm, helpless against wind gusts and at threat of being uprooted.

Do you consciously understand how decisions impact you? How strong are your roots? Do your foundations support you in making decisions that respect your core beliefs and values?

So many of us make decisions from an unconscious place. Some of us do this to please others, be part of the “in” group, avoid conflict, or be the person we believe others want us to be. When we do this, we fail to consider how the decision will impact our wellbeing.

Decisions which fail to acknowledge or process how we might be affected often result in internal conflict, which if not processed, leads to dis ease in all senses of the word.

OTHERS

If you struggle to name how others might feel as a consequence of a decision, you run the risk of making heart less decisions.

If considering how others will be impacted does not even enter your mind, I’m going to respectfully suggest you reboot your internal operating system!

Heart less decisions, which fail to take into account how others are impacted, have a way of being exposed, named and shamed with consequential brand damage at personal and business levels. You just need to skim through the headlines of any newspaper and you will find a litany of leaders being called out for their failure to empathise.

For those who are less connected to their own feelings and the feelings of others, this step will present a significant opportunity for personal growth. Those who have poorly developed emotional awareness skills often find their ambitions stymied.

Great leaders have well developed intrapersonal and interpersonal skills.

It is no longer enough to be intellectually smart. You now also need to be emotionally intelligent, compassionate and mature.

 

In both business and personal contexts, people who make decisions that fail to recognise and understand the impact on others, quickly find themselves without friends and supporters or in shallow, transactional and unrewarding relationships. Relationships which vaporise as quickly as their influence.

When we consider how all the stakeholders are impacted by a decision, we have the best chance to ensure decisions are Heart Led and aligned to personal and community needs.

In asking and answering ‘how’, we can review our decisions and strive for an alternative that delivers on multiple attributes and not just financial rewards.

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.

 

Important decisions require contemplation and consideration. Ensuring any decision is aligned to your values and those of the communities it impacts, is the step most missed in decision making frameworks.

When you authenticate anything, you check if it’s genuine, real, honest and trustworthy.

When authenticating a decision ask “is this a true and reliable decision based on values and virtue or one based on ego, self interest or profit motivation?”

If you can answer this question honestly and with integrity, your answer will guide your course of action.

In authenticating, do not confuse self interest with self reflection. This is not an opportunity to be a smart rat, cleverly concocting a rationale to justify the outcome you want. Be honest and ensure you are not manipulating this framework to justify a heart less decision.

Decisions based on ego or false and manufactured justifications, have a habit of biting you in the proverbial. Sooner or later there will be a not so pleasant consequence for the decision maker.

Decisions based on ego and greed also inevitably lead to detrimental outcomes for the people impacted by the decision. Whilst it appears like a win at the time, it’s usually a very costly lose-lose in the end.

Authentication of a decision has two aspects:

SELF

• Is this decision true and right for me as an individual? Is this decision aligned to my values? Am I being authentic and loyal to myself and what is important to me? Is this decision aligned to personal values of virtue? In making this decision am I respecting my boundaries?

OTHERS

• Is this decision true and right for the organisation? Is this decision aligned to the values of the community I lead. Is this decision authentic and trust building?

Decisions which are not aligned to the broader values of the community become a cancer, eating away and undermining all that is good.

When decisions are aligned to values, there is congruence and authenticity. Where there is alignment there is trust.

How to authenticate a decision from a personal perspective

Authenticating a decision from a personal perspective calls you to look inward and spend time reflecting on the decision with intentionality.

Can you clearly articulate your values and the core foundations and principles which guide your life? People who have no clear values or who have a strong need to please, often find themselves at odds with decisions without being able to articulate why.

A decision which is out of alignment with an individual’s values can build resentment, anxiety and anger. Emotions which often find an external target if they have not been processed or understood internally.

Pay attention to your behaviour and the behaviour of those around you. Consider what is at the heart of the upset? When there is discord and a lack of harmony, a great place to start is by considering what your values are. How is this decision eroding the core of your being or that of another? Is there a misalignment between personal values and the decision being made which is fuelling the inner or outer manifestation of the turmoil?

In truth there is freedom, inspiration and potential. 

The challenge and skill is learning how to connect with your truth and then ensuring the decision you make honours that. Anything else is self sabotage.

How to authenticate a decision from an organisational perspective

Decisions in business should always be aligned with corporate values. If you do not have corporate values or if you created a set some time ago, ticked that off and tucked them into a bottom drawer, it’s time to revisit them.

This is not a trivial job or a ‘tick box’ task. This is a critical step in building a thriving culture with people who are committed, engaged and working with purpose.

As we reset the way we work and how we engage our people, being true to our values, has never been more important.

Challenges in organisations occur when:

• there are no articulated values
• there is no adherence to published values
• there is a misalignment between an individual’s values and the actions and decisions of leaders in an organisation.

In order to authenticate a decision, many will need up-skilling in intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. People need to know who they are and be deeply connected with self before they can competently lead others. It is not possible to authenticate a decision if you have not built the foundation blocks to facilitate this or if you have underdeveloped skills to complete the task.