Bernadette BoasExecutive Leadership Coach, Trainer and Speaker, Ball of Fire Coaching · Become the Leader Everyone Wants to Follow and No One Can Overlook.

Stop Buying Hands, Start Winning Hearts: True Leadership Secret!

9 Jun 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:14

In this brief YouTube dialogue, Speaker A argues that while salary and benefits can attract employees ('buy a hand'), genuine leadership must win hearts through people‑focused, heart‑based approaches. Speaker B asks why leaders struggle to shift from transactional tactics to such a mindset despite expert advice and cost implications. Speaker A responds that changing a leader’s value system is difficult, especially when people‑related issues are not acute or pressing; they often fall below other priorities that promise quicker results. The exchange highlights the need for leaders with the right values who are willing to tackle hard, non‑urgent people challenges.

Going back to what we talked about earlier, or what I mentioned, salary and benefits will bring people in. You can buy a hand, but you have to win a heart.
Yeah.
And that's what a lot of people aren't getting.
And why are our leaders struggling so hard to recognize and move from that transactional tactical aspect to more of the heart-based people side of things when they, when they see and they hear from experts like yourself, just the cost that it has to them and the company?
Sure. It's really hard to change someone's value system. And then too, when things are not to the point that we talked about earlier, when I don't have a headache, when it's not acute, when it's not bothering me, it hasn't risen to the level of priority as maybe other things that seem to drive the needle more quickly. So I think it requires leadership that has the right values. It also requires leadership that's not afraid to, uh, do the hard things because it is hard, right?