The importance of engaging both hearts and minds

When businesses talk about what they do, they often lean too far one way: all heart with no structure to fully trust, or all logic and no feeling towards the story that’s being told.

Real power though, is found in managing to bring both together.

At The Visioneers, we call this engaging hearts and minds. It’s what turns a good strategy into a vision that people not only understand, but really believe in, understanding the part they play in making it a reality.

What it means to engage both

Engaging the mind means connection through logic: clear goals to solve clear problems, evidence of said problems and how you’re fixing it, and the structured approach by which you’re doing so. Basically, it answers the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ you intend to achieve those established objectives.

The heart, however, connects through emotion: the momentum of shared purpose, the deep feeling of empathy in response to someone’s story, and the belief that what’s being done can truly make a difference. Engaging the heart offers an opportunity to understand and connect to the ‘why’.

On their own, each element is important, but has real limitations in how effective they can be in communicating, engaging and galvanising. For instance, a business that only appeals to logic (the ‘what’ and the ‘how’) might make sense but fail to inspire. While one that only appeals to feeling might inspire, but drift without direction.

One could argue that, in the UK during the 2020s, engaging the hearts and minds of the electorate has been a key difficulty for parties across the political spectrum. Some have effective stories, some have powerful facts or projections, but none have woven these into a powerful, inspiring and galvanising vision of the future for the electorate to get behind.

Another example: Saying ‘we produce zero-emission transport’ informs the mind (the ‘what’), but saying ‘we’re helping cities breathe again’, before explaining how you’re doing that, moves the heart and the mind in tandem.

When the heart and mind align, you achieve clarity that moves people and creates lasting conviction.