Leadership is a great privilege.  Leadership is a great gift.  Leadership is also a great decision.

We are all leaders is some shape or form – the difference is the sphere of influence and authority in which we move.  There are various spheres of leadership in life:  personal, family, business/organizational and government.  Good leadership always begins with personal leadership.  All forms of leadership are built on personal leadership – the way that we lead ourselves.  The way we lead ourselves impacts anything else that we lead.  We need to wholeheartedly lead ourselves in order to wholeheartedly lead anything else.  Wholehearted leaders lead from the heart.

What does that mean though?  Does that mean that wholehearted leaders are just emotional?

No.

Let’s look at the “heart” for a moment.  What do you picture when you hear that someone has “lost heart”?  Their passion is gone.  Their commitment is gone.  Their hope is gone.  Their strength is gone.  Right?  How about someone who is “half-hearted”?  They lack strength, commitment, conviction, perseverance, passion, drive, energy, vision, life, etc.

So, the heart is a deep place within us of commitment, conviction, strength, passion, drive, vision – the core of who we really are.  I believe the heart is the deepest place in us that defines the true essence of who we are.  Let’s get to the “heart of the matter” – doesn’t that mean that we strip away all the superfluous issues and get to the true essence of a situation?

So, the heart of a person is the deepest part of who they are, their true essence – their identity, life, conviction, commitment, passion and purpose.

Did you ever see the Clint Eastwood movie A Fistful of Dollars?  Remember, the evil Ramone and what he said about the heart?  Do you remember the climax of the movie when Clint confronts Ramone and his henchmen in the dusty street?  Clint taunts Ramone to “aim for the heart”.

“Remember Ramone if you are going to kill a man you have to aim for the heart – that’s what you said.  Aim for the heart Ramone.”

Shot after shot is fired by Ramone at Clint’s heart, but it doesn’t stop him.  When Ramone’s rifle is empty Clint lifts his poncho to reveal the iron plate he has strapped over his chest with 7 bullet indentations right over his heart.

This is a powerful picture for what happens in business – in life.  We can take lots of shots aimed at taking out our hearts so we just go through the motions devoid of real commitment, conviction, purpose, passion and life.  We just try to get the job done, but our hearts are not truly alive.

This blog is meant to help us become wholehearted leaders – leaders who are truly alive, who lead themselves well and, therefore, can lead others well.  We lead in such a way that it is not about us, it’s about the well being of those we are leading.  Wholehearted leaders lead from a deep sense of identity, commitment, conviction, purpose, passion and life.  Wholehearted leaders are not defined by what they do; no, who they are defines what they do.  Wholehearted leaders recognize that business and life take shots at our hearts meant to take us out, and therefore guard their hearts to ensure they are alive at a deep level.

I look forward to journeying with you through these blogs to increasingly become wholehearted leaders.  Instead of “aiming for the heart” our “aim is the heart”, to make sure we are alive at a deep level to be the most profound and powerful leaders we can be.