Throughout history we have wonderful examples of leaders doing the right thing – Lincoln’s abolition of slavery, Gandhi’s peaceful standing of ground, Martin Luther King Jr’s push for civil rights, Rosa Parks too, and Mandela’s bringing together a fractured nation. You will no doubt have your own inspiring examples.
More recently in the business world we have seen leaders resist shareholder demands for ever greater returns in favour of turning their businesses to making a contribution to building a better world for all. Paul Polman (Unilever) and Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo) are just two examples.
What connects them all and the strength to do the right thing? Heart.
For sure we can all intellectualise what’s right but only when we allow the well of love and courage that come from our heart to get in on the act will what we do be truly right and in service of a greater good.
This heartfulness isn’t just the province of great men and women – those in the history books and today’s public eye. It is available to all and whilst our impact may be on a different scale, engaging our heart and living through it enhances the quality of our decisions and actions and our interactions.
We connect with others beyond our social conditioning and the assumptions and judgements it creates. Instead we see a fellow member of humanity before us. We come into right relationship. Heartful energy flows, adding to the energetic field of love we so need to counteract the challenges of our world and the misunderstandings and missteps that can characterise human interaction.
And it takes the courage of our heart to cultivate our openness to its wisdom, to trust in that wisdom to guide us in service of a better world and to persist openheartedly when the path may not be as smooth as we had hoped. Each of us nurturing our heartfulness and living it is surely the greatest service we can bring and its collective impact can transform our world.