Why "Just follow your heart" might be the worst advice of all time

by Henry Kaestner

What is the worst advice I've ever heard given an entrepreneur? That's easy, "Just follow your heart."  There's a problem with that oft used counsel, of course, and it goes like this:

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"  Jeremiah 17:9 NIV

At many times in my past following my heart would (and did) mean making bad decisions in my personal and professional life.  I've followed my heart too many times to know not to trust it.  My heart isn't the only body part that's failed me by the way.... my "gut" has too, and there are other parts that are in the process of doing the same to this 48 year old whose boys can beat him now in everything from ping pong to 1 on 1, but that's a different blog post :) 

What's the solution to all of this organ failure when we want to make great decisions as an effective leader?

We don't need to look any further than the greatest leader not named Jesus in the Bible: King David.  I love it when the Bible tells us "why" something happens, and 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22 comes through magnificently in this regard. The Bible tells us that David was successful because He was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22), ....not his own.

How can you, too, be after God's own heart? A walk through Psalms will go a long way.  In addition to this collection of 150 songs and prayer to God, I'm a believer in fasting, and seeking the counsel of others who you know to be Godly.  How do you seek to be a business leader who is after God's heart and not your own?

Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt 6:33)....so easy, so familiar and so often overlooked.  

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Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash