How to Honor Heart
Leaders typically honor results, but what are you doing to honor heart?
Jamie Dimon said the secret of great leadership is humility and heart. Dimon is the CEO of America’s biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase. (HBR July-August 2018)
Choose AND:
Reject short-sighted notions that you must choose between honoring heart and achieving long-term results.
Affirm results AND honor heart.
Honor heart to fuel energy.
Heart is the engine that drives long-term results.
The end is near when you lose heart.
How to honor heart:
#1. Honor character:
- Grit. Notice when people take a hit and keep going.
- Compassion. The most costly emotion – in the short-term – is compassion. You give a piece of yourself away when you extend compassion. Relationships cannot endure apart from compassion. Applaud when someone on your team shows compassion. Ass kicking is easy compared to showing compassion.
- Integrity. Stand up and cheer when someone stands up for what’s right. Celebrate when team members point out mistakes. Listen deeply to disconfirming suggestions.
- Optimism. Negativity is a pandemic in business. Define three behaviors that express optimism. When you see optimism, name the behavior and say, “Thank you.”
- Noticing. Some people only think of themselves. Leaders notice others. If you have an optimistic-noticer on your team, give them a hug. Successful leaders learn to get outside themselves. Noticing is essential.
#2. Honor the person, not just the results:
- Talk about the energy it took to produce results.
- Respect positive motivation and intention that gets jobs done.
- Explain the emotional impact of results. “When you …., others feel….”
- Say, “I feel proud you’re on our team when I see you (action).” Say this when someone tries again after falling short, for example.
- Ask yourself, “What unnoticed attitudes or behaviors did it take to get this job done?” Talk about those things.
What character qualities might leaders honor?
How might leaders show honor to the person, not just the results?
If you’re on holiday, how might you honor the people around you?
Thank you for this. So affirming and important.
Thank you George!
Great reminder that as a leaders we need to consider all of the layers of that make us human and to recognizing all the different ways to motivate someone. Our title may be manager, least we forget that it also means coach. These are great talking points to help me in that role. Thank you
Thanks Deb. Your inclusion of coach with manager reflects the number one skill your team members want from their manager. Powerful.
Honoring people is part of coaching. Honor strengths and progress, for example. Cheers
“Heart is the engery that fuels endurance.”
Not sure I ever thought about it that way, yet when I read it it makes sense like I’ve known it for years.
I’ll call it a great reminder and eye-opener at the same time.
I tend to favor results over the person. It’s not that I don’t care about the people. They are important.
This post is a needed message for me. Thanks.
Thanks Dan for this inspirational post
Great blog and well needed. Also, it is important to honor your own heart as well. The importance of self-care by placing the oxygen mask on you first so that you can serve others directly afterward. Would really appreciate a blog on this as well.
One of the ways we honor others is by using “Shout outs” where we email the person and include the entire company or their department commending their actions that went above and beyond or their compassion to another not really having to do with results (such as an attitude or a helping hand to another co-worker). This small encouragement goes a long way to build up eveyone’s heart and encourages other to honor each other’s hearts.
We have a saying around here…”celebrate what you want to duplicate!” Creating a culture of honor will take any team and business to a whole new level. This is a great post and one that can, with genuine affirmation, can positively change a team dynamic!