Leading From The Heart, Or The Head?

Ever since I learned that we have neurons in our hearts and gut, as well as our brains, I’ve been thinking both “that makes sense” and “what do I do with this information?”.

It makes sense.

Gut instinct. I know in my gut. My stomach dropped, and I just knew.

I knew in my heart. My heart’s telling me….

Phrases like these tell me we have always known that we have wisdom in our guts and heart.

But which of our three brains do we use when we lead? Typically, we use our head brain.

It’s been my default mode, too.

What do I do with this information?

I’ve reflecting on where my decisions and leading come from, and I do use all three: head, heart, and gut.

Yet I’ve noticed that when I’ve followed the wisdom of my heart and gut, things turn out better.

When I lead from my heart and gut, this happens:

I make better decisions, especially for the long term.

Like when we decided to buy our home. I didn’t even have time to mentally process the choice, and I knew this was the one we’d been looking for.

I hadn’t even seen the inside of it, just the neighbourhood.

I weather the ups and downs of the road to success with more ease, and enjoy the journey a lot more. And handle those blooper moments with grace. I’m more agile.

I’m more successful in bringing other people along with me.

Like getting the kids on board with moving: an autistic kid who hates change, and a younger kid who’s just gained the confidence to explore our old neighbourhood on their own.

Let me tell you, when I lead with the head, it’s very different.

Our home was a fixer-upper. There was hessian wallpaper on the walls, it was murder to remove. The house was shabby and neglected for years.

My youngest got a bit scared, and I lead with my head.

Not my finest moment.

What I did wasn’t bad, it just didn’t work.

It wasn’t til I reconnected with my gut that I was able to soothe them, and get them engaged with how to make their room gorgeous.

I’ve discovered that for me, the wisdom of my heart and gut is superior to that of my head.

I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with leading from the head. I just know from experience that for me it’s not my wisest brain.

What about you?

Which of the 3 brains has the best wisdom for you?