Philosophy
We don’t have to choose between leading with the heart and leading with the mind.
The name HeartMind comes from lev, the Hebrew word most often translated “heart” in the Old Testament. But lev means far more than emotion. It includes mind, will, thinking, memory, desire, courage, and conscience, a person’s whole inner self. English doesn’t have a single word that means all of it the way lev does, and that’s what HeartMind is trying to do.
Heart and mind are only the beginning. A HeartMind Leader grows the wisdom to hold competing qualities in tension and discern what the people and the moment call for. Plenty of positive qualities look like opposites. For example, patience and urgency, or grace and accountability, or contentment and ambition. Both sides of each pair are good, and most of us naturally lean toward one side. We call these counterweights, and wisdom is how we hold the tension.
- Patience & Urgency
- Grace & Accountability
- Contentment & Ambition
The Genius of the AND
Jim Collins called this the “Genius of the AND,” and its trap the “Tyranny of the OR.” Collins spent years researching why some companies endure while others fade, and he and his co-author Jerry Porras put both phrases in their book Built to Last. The tyranny of the OR is acting as if we can only pick one good thing. The genius of the AND is refusing that false choice and learning to do or have both.
Picture standing in the middle of a seesaw, one foot on each side of the center. Patience on one end, urgency on the other. Lean a little left, then a little right, keeping both ends off the ground. We are the balance, not one of the weights. When a storm pushes one way, we lean the other. The work is the leaning, and it takes self-awareness and practice.
Integrity and Wisdom
Two qualities have no counterweight at all. Integrity is one. We don’t balance it in tension with anything. Wisdom is the other, and wisdom is the thing that does the balancing. It’s how we know which way to lean, in this moment, with this person.
Counterweights need a balance point. That’s why there’s a fulcrum in our logo.
What we’re after is leadership that supports the whole person, not just the performance. And when two good things pull evenly, when it’s a real tie, a HeartMind Leader leans toward what’s better for people.
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