When VaynerX unveiled the world’s first Chief Heart Officer role in a corporate landscape obsessed with data, scale and performance metrics, it raised more than a few eyebrows.
While few would say it out loud, many businesses still operate on the quiet assumption that empathy and efficiency are at odds and that “heart” has little place in boardroom decision-making.
So you can only imagine the rolled eyes that must have come when Claude Silver revealed her Chief Heart Officer title. “People thought it was sweet and sticky, ooey gooey,” recalled Claude Silver, speaking to B&T during her visit to Australia last month. “I’m a kind person, but I don’t think I’m ooey gooey. I’m a ‘say it how it is’ person.”
In spite of the doubters, VaynerX persisted with the “heart model” and, what began as a bold experiment between Silver and CEO Gary Vaynerchuk has since evolved into a model that’s quietly transforming the way global businesses think about leadership, culture, and performance.
The Business Case for Heart
For Silver, empathy isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a strategic imperative.
“You need heart-based leadership because of the burnout, the retention, the quiet quitting, the strain from clients,” she explained. “All of that is why you need to lean into humanity so much more, lean into being human.”
At a time when agencies across APAC are navigating talent shortages, hybrid models, and constant client pressure, Silver argues that empathetic leadership drives tangible ROI.
“Of course you get higher innovation, more retention, less attrition,” she said. “You get continuity. You get longevity of employees when you care for them – during the working day, but also outside of it”.
Outside of the obvious side-effects of this kind of leadership, Silver pointed out some “unquantified” business benefits – word-of-mouth referrals that save on recruitment costs, loyalty that reduces turnover, and a culture that fosters innovation.
“When you care for people, you save yourself time, energy, and money. You can’t buy that kind of continuity.”
From ROI to ROE: Measuring Empathy
While traditional HR metrics focus on headcount and retention, Silver is part of a movement reframing how we measure human impact.
“There’s a new term going around called ROE, return on energy,” she told B&T. “It’s something I’m working on with someone from Google. How can we quantify our energy output rather than our time? Because time is hard to control, but I can control my energy”.
For Silver, this shift captures a truth too often overlooked: that emotional energy fuels creativity and collaboration.
“When you have a culture rooted in trust and connection, you can get through anything,” she said. “That’s ROI in itself.”
The Evolution of the Chief Heart Officer
When Silver first stepped into her role, even she admits it took some adjustment.
“I never wanted to do HR,” she laughed. “I changed the name to People and Experience, because that’s what we’re doing, taking care of people and the experience they have from the minute they send their CV to us to their last breath”.
The role was born from a shared vision with CEO Vaynerchuk. “He said, ‘We’re building the single greatest human organization in the history of time,’” Silver recalled. “And when I asked how we’d know if I was successful, he said, ‘We’ll touch every single human being and infuse the agency with empathy’”.
Scaling that vision to more than 2,000 global employees has been no small feat. Silver relies on what she calls a “high-touch culture”, one built on accessibility and connection.
“If a team member wants to talk to Alan, our CFO, she can text him. Anyone is accessible,” she said.
To make empathy scalable, Silver has also developed a network of “culture champions” across every office.
“They still have day jobs, but they act as unofficial champions for others. It’s letting other people shine lights on other people”.
Leading With Heart, Even When Times Get Hard
Heart-led leadership isn’t about avoiding difficult decisions. In fact, Silver believes it’s what holds companies together through them.
“Culture isn’t built for peaceful days,” she told B&T. “We build culture for the hard days. That’s when you need it, when everyone needs that extra layer of resiliency.”
During moments of crisis, she believes empathy must coexist with transparency.
“What hits the fan in those moments is when leadership isn’t telling the truth,” she warned. “As a leader, your job is to be a transparent communicator. COVID really made that clear, you can’t just rely on body language anymore. People need honesty.”
The Future of Heart-Led Leadership
Silver sees a clear generational shift driving this evolution.
“Gen Z will not stand for anything less,” she said. “They want to be heard. They want impactful work. They’re teaching us about wellbeing, mental health, and that it’s okay to ask for what you need.”
That shift, she believes, is reshaping leadership globally. “A lot of the archaic way of leading, those people are retiring. We’re getting new blood, more diversity, more women in leadership. And leading with love and authenticity is easier than carrying the weight of all the armor and masks. That’s heavy. And people are done with heavy”.
If she could leave Australian leaders with one message, it’s this: start with yourself. “Every leader needs to spend time on their own self-awareness journey,” Silver said.
“It’s very difficult to ask someone to bring their authentic self to work if you’re not. It’s very difficult to ask for vulnerability if you don’t show it. To ask for gratitude if you never have.”
For all her emphasis on empathy, Silver is pragmatic. “Leaders do need to listen, but then they need to do something. Take action based on what people tell you.”
The smartest person in the room, she reminds us, is rarely the one talking, but the room as a collective. “The room itself is the smartest. A leader’s job is to give you a map and then get out of the way.”
As Silver’s book, Be Yourself at Work, makes clear, the future of business won’t be built on profit alone, but on people.
