Lisa Virtue [00:00:00]:

Welcome to the heartset Leadership Podcast, brought to you by heartset Studio and me, your host, coach Lisa Virtue. This is a space for leaders who want to crush their goals without crushing their soul or their team. And if you've ever felt the tension between performance and people, between getting results and actually feeling good about how you got there, you're in the right place. I want to start with something simple. Most leaders I work with, they don't wake up in the morning thinking, how, how can I burn out my team today? They care deeply, they want to do well, they want their teams to succeed, and they want to be respected. And yet they're overwhelmed. They're making hard decisions. They're navigating constant change, pressure, and expectations from every direction.

Lisa Virtue [00:00:42]:

And somewhere along the way, leadership starts to feel, well, heavy, a little lonely, a little reactive, a little disconnected from this kind of leader they actually want to be. What I hear from more junior talent looking at becoming an emerging leader is they don't know if they even want to lead people. They see their mentors, their parents, their leaders burning out and being vocal about it. Why would they want to put themselves in that position? And here's the truth I've come to believe after years of coaching leaders. Most leadership advice focuses on mindset. Think differently, reframe, stay positive. And that's helpful to a point. But here's what I've seen over and over again.

Lisa Virtue [00:01:21]:

You can read all the leadership books. You can learn the phrases, you can follow the right frameworks and best practices and still fall flat. Because people can feel the difference between something that's practiced and something that's real. Leadership isn't just what you know. It's how you show up. It's your presence, your energy, your intention in the moment. And if that's coming from a contrived place, trying to say it right, trying to lead the right way, people feel that, too. It doesn't land.

Lisa Virtue [00:01:51]:

It's like in sports. You can have the perfect form. You can do everything exactly by the book. But who do we actually want to watch? Who do we cheer for? The ones who are in it, the ones who bring something real, the ones who put the heart into it. That's what draws us in, and that's what creates connection. That's what makes it matter. And leadership is no different. Heartset is that difference.

Lisa Virtue [00:02:13]:

It's not just mindset. It's not just a skill set. It's the way you bring your heart into how you lead in real time with real people in those real situations. It's bringing your intuition. Because at the end of the day, leadership lives in those moments. That's where trust is built or broken. That's where culture lives. That's where performance either rises or quietly falls.

Lisa Virtue [00:02:36]:

And that's what Heartset leadership is all about. So what is your heart set on? Heart set leadership is the way you show up for others. Not just what you think, not just what you say, but how you lead from your gut in real time. When things are messy, when they're unclear or when they are uncomfortable. It's the difference between managing people and actually leading them. And it all starts with you understanding yourself, your raw humanity, being in touch with your heart and what it is set on so you can be authentic. So let me break this down simply because I've been living and observing human leadership my entire career, starting from a very young age. And I've been studying it from a theoretical and scientific perspective for at least half of that time.

Lisa Virtue [00:03:20]:

So over these 20 plus years I have discovered five buckets or pillars of how leaders show up for others. And this is how I created the heart acronym in heartset heart H E A R T. This is a leadership framework that I built for leaders to use to check in with how they're showing up for others. How to identify gaps and opportunities for growth or heightened awareness so others are more apt to follow their lead. First, there is the H. Be human. This is where it starts. You are not a robot.

Lisa Virtue [00:03:48]:

Well, not yet. Sorry, I couldn't help myself with all the modern talk about neuralink and brain computer interfaces. But even then, these technologies are meant to enhance the human experience, not not eliminate it. Being human means self awareness. You have a heart and soul. It means understanding your impact and what lies below the waterline, the parts others cannot see or see coming. How you and your lived experience is unique only to you. It means knowing when your stress, your assumptions or your reactions are going to show up and how they shape the room from your position of authority.

Lisa Virtue [00:04:24]:

This is where introspection and mindset work are done in this H pillar and where neuroscience informs us of how to understand ourselves and where we can work on shifting our brain chemistry if needed. This is where most leadership coaches live. It's very important work. The H in the heart set leadership framework means showing up intentionally human and working on yourself as an instrument in your work. Really important. But in isolation can only take you so far. So this next letter in our heart acronym E stands for elevating others. Leadership is not about being the smartest person in the room.

Lisa Virtue [00:04:59]:

It's about making the room stronger through others. Elevating others means giving real feedback. It means creating opportunities for others, seeing people clearly and helping them grow. Not avoiding hard conversations and not sugarcoating, but caring enough to help someone get better and lifting them up from your position of power. This is where charisma lives, focusing on others more than ourselves in interactions and high stakes conversations. Not now we come to A A is for act. This is where a lot of leaders get stuck. Not knowing when to take action, overthinking, delaying, or on the other side of the pendulum, swinging too fast and cleaning up the mess later.

Lisa Virtue [00:05:39]:

ACT is about timing, taking the best next action at the right moment in cadence for your organization's and team's needs. Not perfect action, but intentional and appropriate action. The R stands for Relate. Leadership is relational. Always. Even when you think it's about strategy or operations or performance. Relate means building trust and psychological safety, understanding what matters to people, navigating all those interpersonal and group dynamics, not avoiding them. Because the truth is, most leadership challenges are actually relationship challenges.

Lisa Virtue [00:06:14]:

So in this pillar we discussed the how how to show up in ways that build connection between you and others, both internally at your organization and externally. This is where communication skills and vulnerability come into play. And finally, the last pillar or bucket is T, which stands for Be transparent. Transparency. Another pendulum and spectrum. Not telling everything. Please limit your TMI as a leader of people. Transparency is about being clear, honest and grounded in reality, sharing what you can with your team when it matters most.

Lisa Virtue [00:06:49]:

Especially when things get hard. Because. Because when leaders aren't clear, people fill in the gaps and usually they don't fill them in generously. So there you have it. When you put all this together, Heart set leadership is about leading in a way that drives results and builds trust, moves things forward without leaving people behind, creates performance without creating unnecessary damage along the way. And honestly, this matters now more than ever. We're in a time where change is constant, multiple generations are working together, AI is accelerating everything and people are tired. Burnout is real, disengagement is real, and leaders are being asked to do more with less support and higher expectations.

Lisa Virtue [00:07:33]:

So the question becomes, how do you lead in a way that actually sustains performance, not just for the next quarter, but for the long run? How can you crush your goals without crushing your soul or your team? That's what we're here to explore together. So on this podcast with my guests, you will hear real conversations with leaders, coaches, consultants, stories of what actually happens behind the scenes, tools you can use immediately and honest reflections on what it takes to lead. Well, today, we're not here for perfection. We're here for awareness, growth, and real leadership. Talk from real life. So if you're a leader who cares about your people, cares about your own sanity, and still needs to perform at a high level, you are not alone and you're in the right place. This is Heartset leadership.