Heart Leader
A Personal Journey to the Heart of Business and Life
Business is often perceived as passionless and objective, a sterile environment where the contaminant of emotion does not belong. Management decisions must be based on acute observation and financial need, and these coldhearted conclusions are reached after a painstaking, rational procedure involving the input of countless trusted analysts. Some believe that feeling and sentiment prevent people from functioning in a coherent manner, especially in a conference room or board meeting.
Heart Leader presents an alternative, people-oriented approach to conducting business. Inspired after a frightening hospitalization for spinal meningitis, Daryl Wizelman put his time of recovery to constructive use. He reflected on vague concepts like integrity and accomplishment, as well as foggy terms like stress, priority, and empowerment. With warmth and humor, he details a workable plan for career-driven individuals and high-potential teams to reach an extraordinary level of achievement without losing the human touch. Wizelman emphasizes the importance of hiring and developing employees, rather than acquiring people and forcing them into molds.
This caring and enlightened executive has developed a near flawless coaching technique. Usable in a variety of professions, his advice applies to anyone with a desire to gain from his insight. The single weakness in his book is a tendency to linger on personal issues, although there is nothing overtly wrong with this teaching tactic.
Wizelman is a motivational speaker and consultant for international companies and associations. He specializes in “emotional intelligence” and strategic planning in the corporate realm. Emphasizing the sensitive interaction between life and work, he leads by example. Wizelman owned and managed a financial services company with over 550 employees for seventeen years. In Heart Leader, he shares the lessons he learned in creating his own business. He touches on issues such as focus, time management, and efficiency, while emphasizing personal growth. His goal is to teach leaders how to earn employee trust and loyalty, increase profit, and achieve happiness in all realms of life.
In day-to-day business it’s easy to forget the human nature of all transactions. E-mail and smart phones have eliminated a distance barrier, saving tremendous money in overhead and travel expense, yet this convenience has caused depersonalization of the workforce. An office may be nothing more than a sequestered group of cubicles with strangers floundering behind flimsy walls. In this age of electronic communication Wizelman’s Heart Leader reminds us that near every high-tech device, computer monitor, and work station is an individual with a heart and a soul.
Reviewed by
Julia Ann Charpentier
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
