Leading with an Open Heart

I read a leadership article a while back that had such a profound effect on how I understand leadership that I see examples of tenets of the article on an almost daily basis. It's called "Leading with an Open Heart," and speaks eloquently about the difficulty we have in our society to forefront the convictions we have in our hearts when practicing leadership. The authors say that, "But to stay alive in our spirit, in our heart, requires the courage to keep our heart open; it requires what Roman Catholics call a sacred heart or what in the Jewish tradition is called an open heart. We can talk about the practical reasons why it's important to keep an open heart -- and there are practical reasons -- but chiefly it is important for your own spirit and identity."

With so much controversy surrounding our world, it's hard to see much evidence of leading with an open heart in our society, especially exemplary examples. But here is one I came across today, and if ever there was an example of someone leading with an open heart in a very public way, this is it:



It's hard not to feel his struggles and convictions when you watch this. Imagine pouring yourself out to a news crew, to face the almost certain risk of losing so many friends, colleagues, and family members' support. Makes me think how much better off we'd all be if everyone practiced leading with such an open heart.