"Our new guy has such a great heart."
"She really puts her heart into her work."
"He's a great salesperson but really wears his heart on his sleeve."
Paul prayed for the Ephesians that "the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you ... " (Eph. 1:18, NIV).
During interviews and performance reviews it is important to me as a leader to have my eyes opened to the heart of the person being reviewed. I pray for my heart to see the heart of others.
As I prepared for admission to graduate school, I submitted to the usual battery of exams. Pre-admission tests are used to separate wheat from chaff. The Graduate Management Admissions Test is designed to measure the likelihood of success in graduate studies.
I think my score was "chaff." I took the exam a second time and was a higher grade of chaff. By God's grace and plan for my life, I was admitted into grad school. I successfully completed two graduate degrees in spite of my chaffiness.
Exams can't measure the heart. But it's the heart that drives performance. Paul said it to the Colossians, "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" (Col. 3:23, MEV).
Paul didn't reference the hands or brains as essential to work—he called for the heart.
The heart is easier to observe in a person than to examine. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34). During a competent interview, a candidate will usually not be able to hide a heart condition. It's amazing what we can learn with proper questions in an interview.
I may not be able to write a job description for a big heart but I know heart, when I see it. I'd rather employ one person with an enlarged heart than three workers with a good resume.
Consider the heart.
"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt 6:20-21).
Dr. Steve Greene is the publisher and executive vice president of the media group at Charisma Media and executive producer of the Charisma Podcast Network. His book, Love Leads: The Spiritual Connection Between Your Relationships and Productivity, is now available.
Leaders, Dr. Greene wants to help you understand the spiritual connection between relationships and productivity. Read his new blog, here.
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