Do you lead from the head or the heart?

The surprising results of my own assessment — and why I’m proud to be a heart-centered leader.

On a flight from Sydney to Amsterdam, I read the incredible new book, ‘Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership’ by Dr. Kirstin Ferguson AM. Then, we had the privilege of interviewing her on the We Are Human Leaders podcast.

As we prepared to speak to her, I reread the book voraciously, taking copious notes and underlining vast swaths of the text. At one point, Dr. Ferguson invited my co-host Alexis and I to take a self-assessment on Head & Heart leadership so she could analyze our results live on air. I am a long-term huge fan of online quizzes, so she didn’t have to ask me twice.

The assessment rates how you’re doing on each of the 8 attributes of modern leadership Dr. Ferguson identifies and outlines in her book. It also identifies whether you’re a head or a heart leader.

As a former lawyer and a research-loving nerd, I fully expected to test as a head leader. Thinking, analyzing and arguing are my comfort zone. So the results came as a surprise.

My results

According to the results, I’m a heart-based leader. They also showed that for me, the 8 attributes rank in this order, from…