How to Implement Human Centred Leadership in Your Workplace

What it means to be a leader, and how leadership should be practised, can vary greatly from one person to the next. Human centred leadership requires authentic leaders with high emotional intelligence and who are willing to commit to the development and growth of their people.

Implementing a people centric leadership style is not the daunting task it may appear to be. It is important to remember that organisational change starts within yourself. Commit to developing leadership skills and expanding your capabilities so that you can lead effectively and support others to do the same.

Re-Framing Professionalism

Many executives and senior leaders working today were brought up in a landscape that values productivity, performance, and a sense of professionalism that was often detached from vulnerability and emotional intelligence. To transition to a human-centred approach, it’s important to re-frame our understanding of professionalism in the workplace. This involves acknowledging emotions as part of our professional selves and recognizing that teams are made up of complex individuals with diverse life experiences. Implementing empathy and compassion into conversations is an important step in this process. It is about demonstrating authentic leadership by being fully ourselves and not pretending to be something else.

Having a human centred leadership style doesn’t mean letting go of these traditional qualities either, but rather interpreting them in a way that is focused on understanding people and their motivations. In practice, this means focusing on the individuals who make up your organisation rather than on simply achieving results. It means taking the time to get to know your employees as people, and building leadership skills that are focused on understanding and supporting people, you can foster a culture of trust, respect, and collaboration.

Remove Barriers to Success

A human centred approach to leadership means ensuring that everyone in your organisation is supported to reach their potential, without any barriers to success. Empowering individuals and teams to thrive not only has the potential for positive outcomes for the business, but also encourages employees to have a sense of ownership and responsibility for their work.

Engaging in a leadership skills assessment can reveal areas where teams and individuals may be facing challenges. This process may involve examining recruitment processes, hiring practices, career development opportunities and training methods. When individuals have a heightened self awareness, they are more likely to seek assistance when they need it. It’s also important that authentic leaders evaluate how they are communicating with employees, what feedback is being given, and how it’s being received. This makes it easier to identify and remove any barriers that may be preventing employees from reaching their goals.

Authentic leadership starts with re-contextualising what it means to lead effectively in today’s business landscape. Developing strong self awareness is a key leadership skill that helps executives to fully understand the effects of their leadership and improves their perceptiveness towards the needs of their team. This self awareness should lead to more authentic leadership as it creates an understanding of the humanity behind leadership, motivating others to follow in a positive way.

Leaders who are committed to creating a human centred environment within their organisation should also focus on developing leadership skills and forming genuine connections with employees. They should also consider a leadership assessment and profiling process, to better understand the motivations and leadership styles of their staff. This can guide leaders on how to manage and motivate their team members more effectively.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.