Open Access

Fabian Benz

• Heart leadership is a leadership style which focuses on finding purpose and passion in one’s life and job. The generation Y (Millennials), as a rather technophile generation entered companies around of the turn of the millennium. On the one hand, nowadays generation Z with new values, ideas and requests to their work environment enters companies, and on the other hand companies need to be attractive for skilled personnel. The heart leadership concept addresses these requirements. This concept refers to the ability to use one’s awareness and heart energy to create a culture focused on exceptional relations, trust, care, spirituality, compassion, positivity, and development. The aim of this thesis is to answer the question of how heart leadership impacts a business in the long run. To answer the research question “How can doing things in a heart way impact the future of modern businesses?”, a literature review was conducted. The beginning of this work provides an explanation of what leadership means, followed by explaining different leadership styles based on the Full Range of Leadership Model with a concrete explanation of transformational leadership. By defining the context of heart leadership with the meaning of the heart, what aspects this kind of leadership includes, and the definition of human potential, eleven heart factors that influence a business were derived through repeated and overlapping attributes which a heart-led leader should have. These factors show that heart leadership has a positive long-term impact on several areas of a business, including the increase of overall work performance, mental health, commitment, engagement, employee retention, resilience, profit and more. The outcome of this thesis recommends integrating heart leadership in actual leadership principles in companies. Heart leadership is an extension of transformational leadership that meets the needs of a new generation, positively changes the work environment, and enables employees’ full potential in order to survive as a company in a competitive market and the race for qualified employees.