Why we need radically human leaders ?

The world is changing radically.

The incessant and accelerating change in technology has required businesses to become more responsive and fluid to adapt. Organizational structures have morphed from the rigid command and control structures of the linear industrial era to more agile and fluid structures, increasingly becoming an eco-system of networks linking teams and projects. From living-systems theory we know that networks are bound by relationships, and the quality of those relationships determine both the cohesiveness of the networks and the results they produce.

Adding to this, technology has enabled, and the global pandemic has accelerated, the shift towards remote working, creating a hybrid workplace where many relationships are distant, and performance is digitally mediated.

The very nature of capitalism itself is changing, from an exploitative, short-term, profit and shareholder driven focus to a more sustainable “triple bottom line” focus of people, aligned with purpose, producing a profit.

Leadership, of necessity, is also changing. Whereas leaders previously lead mechanistically, requiring people to leave their emotions and private lives at home, emotional intelligence has becoming a key differentiator of leadership performance. However, this new world of work requires even more radically human leadership, a “Leadership 4.0” as it were, where leaders:

Know themselves at the deepest of levels, their strengths and weaknesses (and blind spots), as opposed to operating from long established default behaviours, creating internal alignment and increasing resilience
Show up with greater authenticity, driven from within by clearly articulated and aligned values, in order establish psychological safety, create trust and a shared sense of purpose
Lead with humility and vulnerability, and with deep empathy and emotional intelligence, to connect and create sustainable emotional engagement and performance.

This radically human Leadership 4.0 “upgrade” requires the courage and vulnerability to stand back and examine one’s mindsets, behaviours and approaches, and the willingness to prototype new ways of being and doing. It is both scary and exciting.

To support you in this journey, who better than to have a “calm wise shepherd” working with you in a “relationship of trust”, helping you to “discover more about myself and the actual me” in order to “change their perspective on leadership”.

(From LinkedIn testimonials)

As a professionally qualified executive and leadership coach, I have worked with hundreds of leaders over the last 15 years, passionately supporting them to close gaps and identify opportunities in their leadership practice, turning awareness into wisdom and action.