“Dad, you're speeding. How do you want me to drive when I get my license?” asked my 10-year-old daughter. “You're killing me, smalls,” ran through my head. But then it hit me—my daughters watch my respect for the law. My heart wasn't right, and they saw it in my actions. Time to get my heart straight.

Actions follow the heart. King Solomon wrote a proverb about it: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Even Friedrich Nietzsche saw it: “The thousand mysteries around us would not trouble but interest us, if only we had cheerful, healthy hearts.”

HR's legal advisers also need a clean heart. Employees (and juries) sniff out heart in how a company treats its people. They can smell the difference a mile away. The law sets a bare minimum; generosity does more. When an employee gets better than the law requires, it can defuse fights before they go legal. It can also undermine an employee-turned-plaintiff's case in court. Let's check out how: