Following Your Heart

In my executive coaching work I have been known on more than one occasion to encourage the various leaders who seek my insights to “follow their heart”. This advice seems formidable to most of us because it requires a high level of courage to implement. I should know because I’ve had to follow my own advice on several occasions in my personal and business life. To consciously choose a path that you haven’t traveled before is both scary and exhilarating.

Being a leader is often equated with logic and reason – if I can measure it, quantify it, and chart it then it must be the right thing to do. Yet many of us have learned that personal dreams and aspirations are rarely that easy to define. There may be nothing more than an inner hunger that causes us to take stock of what we are doing and where we would really like to be. Perhaps it is a passion we have felt for many years but never acted upon. Following your heart is rarely a well-conceived master plan complete with strategies, timetables, and task lists. It’s more like an epiphany that results in chaos.

This past week one of my clients called with the news that they had made the decision to “follow their heart”. Their excitement and sense of relief belied any anxiety they might also have been feeling. It was inspiring to hear the joy in their voice and to witness the personal courage it took to make this decision. Leaving a secure position of leadership for an unknown destination seems daunting but, for those who have made this choice, the journey is never made alone. Those persons who love and care for us, personally and professionally, are always there when we announce our decision. It’s one of the secrets I discovered the first time I chose to follow my heart.

Being a leader doesn’t mean we will always be following our heart to some new and exciting career or place. Sometimes we will be the one encouraging a direct report or colleague to experience the joy of spreading their own wings and soaring to new heights. If more people followed their hearts there would be additional joy and inspiration in the workplace and the world. It’s time to leave the rational and logical behind and focus on your dreams. Your heart is calling; are you listening?