How To Hustle With Your Heart

by Lydia Blanco

April 25, 2024

Here’s how you can hustle with your heart in order to reach your maximum success and potential.

Originally Published Nov. 16, 2018.

So much gets lost in the everyday hustle of getting things done as a professional or business owner. You know, the important things like compassion for yourself and others; taking the time to take deep breaths when you’re feeling anxious, upset, or overwhelmed; and being mindful about the energy that you put out into the world as well as the energy you receive.

Sounds like a lot, right? But those are the things that Claude Silver, chief heart officer at VaynerMedia, says are critical to becoming whole and ultimately successful whether you’re clocking in or signing checks. Simply put, it’s called heart.

We met Silver at the Smart Hustle Small Business Conference where she spoke about hustling with your heart and further shared how people can do just that.

As chief heart officer, Silver oversees people operations at VaynerMedia, which includes but is not limited to being responsible for talent management, employee experience and retention, learning and development, coaching, culture, internal communications, and recruitment for over 750 employees. And with more than 20 years of experience in the marketing, media, and people operations, Silver knows a thing or two about cultivating strong leaders.

She says that connection is the thread that weaves strong teams together in both large corporations and small businesses.

“Connection is key and when you’re going to hire people you want to make sure that you are hiring for skillset and culture addition. I don’t say culture fit anymore because that assumes that you and I are identical. And we’re not. But culture addition means that we add something to this culture whether it’s diversity of thought, ideas, or curiosity. Or, diversity in general.”

Connection can also be defined as heart. And that is one of the ways that she teaches people to hustle with their hearts.

“Connection builds trusts, builds empathy, and that all adds to teams that are resilient, accountable, and loyal,” says Silver. It also builds character.

And what she says is just as important, as connectedness is energy. While a lot of people like to focus on time management, Silver believes in energy management. “We all have energy,” she adds. “The more and more that we’re aware of our energy we can know what we can afford to give and what we need to keep because we need to get through the day.”

Managing your energy requires social and emotional intelligence. And when you embody that quality it is proven to help you become more efficient.

So, how can you hustle with your heart no matter what your title is? Here are three tips from Silver:

Actively listen. Listen without interrupting or challenging someone.
Practice patience. Be patient like the Lord infused you with it.
Be empathetic. You want to make sure that you’re working on a team where things are understood because then you get a shorthand of one another.

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