In the business world, being logical is highly valued. Plans should be strategic, decisions data-driven-it’s an undeniable truth. Logic serves as the map steering management.
However, in recent years, we’ve seen an increasing number of situations where “rightness” and rationality alone fail to mobilize organizations. Sound reform proposals can still fall flat, with nobody fully convinced. Teams that should be hitting KPIs can seem emotionally disengaged.
That’s because logic, on its own, isn’t enough. When people need to move and organizations need to evolve, we must bring “heart” into the equation.
By “logic,” we mean the backbone of management: rationality, analysis, numerical control, and strategic planning. These elements clarify the basis of decisions, enhance reproducibility, and bring organizational coherence. Especially in today’s complex business climate, the ability to think structurally is more essential than ever.
Yet logic has limits. No matter how sound a strategy may be, if people don’t internalize it, it won’t be implemented. A well-structured performance evaluation system can still fail to reduce turnover if employees don’t feel they’re growing.
For instance, a company once reorganized its structure according to a mid-term business plan-merging departments, delegating authority, overhauling evaluations. Everything was rational. But the workplace response was cold: “It feels sterile,” “Why now?”-and adoption was slow. Emotional buy-in simply never caught up with the logical framework.
By “heart,” I refer to emotion, relationships, values, trust-and the power of storytelling.
We need heart in management because, at its core, it’s about people leading people. Logic alone won’t change behavior. Only when empathy, conviction, pride, and aspiration are stirred do people act with real commitment.
In one struggling company, leadership conducted interviews across the organization-not about budgets or dashboards, but “What makes you proud to work here?” and “What kind of future do you want to build?” These personal narratives informed a revised corporate message: “Creating work employees can be proud of.” This shift reenergized the workforce and reduced turnover.
Simply put, people understand through logic but are moved by emotion. Since management’s goal is to drive behavior, omitting heart is not an option.
So how do we unite logic with heart?
The first step: stop viewing them as opposing forces. Instead of “logic or heart,” we need integrative intelligence that blends both.
For example, combine numbers with narrative. Pair KPIs or P&L slides with a story explaining “why this matters” and “what it means.” Going forward, corporate planning needs people who can both strategize and tell the story behind the numbers.
Next, deploy an “emotional radar.” Rather than judging initiatives only numerically, also ask: “What feelings are emerging?” “How is trust evolving?” Human Resources excels in this domain and must engage in active dialogue with leadership.
Finally, create dialogic spaces. Instead of top-down messages, build two-way channels where leaders and employees co-create direction. This fosters emotional buy-in-and delivers an exponential increase in implementation power.
Some may dismiss heart-led management as emotional or unscientific. That’s a misunderstanding. Management that overlooks heart can yield short-term results, but it risks long-term exhaustion and erosion of trust.
Truly resilient organizations harness both rationality and empathy, strategy and narrative, numbers and meaning. Such organizations adapt to change and sustain success.
It is precisely those in HR, corporate planning, and business-unit leadership roles who are best positioned to bring heart into management-because your roles lie at the crossroads of rational strategy and human dynamics.
In short: logic alone is incomplete. Since management is about moving people, heart is indispensable. And it’s time to bring it back to the center of our management practice.
