Leading with heart

2026-02-06 - 16:56

For much of my adult life, leadership was something I studied, taught and practiced. It was closely tied to achievement, influence and outcomes — important and necessary measures in the workplace. Yet in this chapter of life, I find myself returning not to strategies or titles, but to a quieter, more personal question: What does it mean to lead with heart? Leadership is a word we use often, sometimes casually. We associate it with authority, visibility and accomplishment. But beneath its everyday use lies a deeply philosophical question: What is leadership? For more than two decades, I approached leadership as a student, trainer and practitioner. I was drawn to frameworks that emphasized excellence and impact, particularly as defined by Susan L. Colantuono, founder of Leading Women: “Leadership is using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others.“ As president of Leading Women Massachusetts, that definition shaped how I taught, worked and measured success. It honored potential, accountability and shared purpose, and it remains a powerful model, especially within professional and organizational settings. And yet, as I was deciding to step away from full-time employment, something shifted. Not away from leadership itself, but toward a different expression of it. With fewer titles to carry and fewer outcomes to chase, I found myself asking a new question: Why and for whom? As a lifelong learner, I have continued to study leadership through new lenses and, recently, I have been especially drawn to the concept of servant leadership, as articulated thoughtfully by Jay Shetty, host of the On Purpose podcast. In an interview with Julia Hartz, CEO of Eventbrite, for Inc. 5000, he describes three types of leaders: power-driven leaders who focus on themselves, performance-driven leaders who focus on goals and purpose-driven leaders (also called servant leaders) who focus on impact. When they failed, power-driven leaders didn’t care what worked, as long as they had power. Performance-driven leaders may change their goals and even start a new company. Purpose-driven leaders never change their purpose; they find a new way. The ultimate goal for purpose-driven leaders is contribution — even if metrics, success and profit are the short-term goals. Transformational leaders often practice a culture of what they didn’t have. At its core, servant leadership reframes influence as service. It asks leaders to begin not with ambition, but with compassion; not with authority, but with humility. The servant leader measures success not by personal advancement, but by the well-being, growth and dignity of others. This philosophy really connects with me, since it fits my current life stage. In this chapter, leadership for me has become less about directing and more about demonstrating. I work part-time for the Whitin Community Center, a local nonprofit organization whose mission I genuinely value. I volunteer actively at the Armenian Church of Whitinsville alongside others, contributing time and energy as needed, often in ways that go unseen. A guiding question for me when I began volunteering outside my job-related interests was: “If not me, then who?” And I continue to study, share and tell the stories of Armenian history and culture through my debut writing as an Armenian Weekly columnist for Victoria’s Voice and as the author of Who She Left Behind. I view it as an act of stewardship, developing my God-given talents. In this sense, servant leadership is not a modern invention. It is something Armenians have practiced for generations. It is embedded in our churches, our cultural organizations, our family stories. It lives in the quiet determination to remember, rebuild and pass forward what was nearly erased. So, what can we offer one another as an invitation to lead? Perhaps it begins with paying attention to where we are needed, rather than where we might be applauded. Perhaps it means asking ourselves what we love enough to serve without recognition. Leadership does not require perfection, expertise or authority. It requires willingness; it requires heart. Each of us carries something worth offering time, knowledge and care. When we share these gifts, within our families, religious organizations, schools and communities, we participate in a form of leadership that sustains far more than organizations. It sustains people. Leading with heart may be as simple as asking, “How can I help?”