Rehumanising leadership and management

I reflected for hours the first time I read corporate anthropologist Michael Henderson's definition of culture.

He says Culture is;

“What it means to be human here.”  (‘Here’ being wherever you are referring to when talking about a culture.) 

Michael's definition for me is far more insightful than the typical definition "the way we do things around here." Being precedes doing.

You can read more from Michael here.

I realised that the key purpose of all my work with clients, online and in person, was all about rehumanising leadership and management.

I realised too the key difference between my work and the work of most leadership mentors. My work is about being, most others are focused on doing. Not a right or wrong situation, just how it is.

I've met a lot of business school graduate leaders. Most learned what to do, not how to be and so I was fascinated recently when I read 'Can Business Schools Humanize Leadership' by Gianpiero Petriglieri and Jennifer Petriglieri of INSEAD.

You can download their paper here.

The following paragraph in their paper inspired me to write a series of seven articles.

A World Economic Forum (2014) survey of nearly 2,000 experts from different fields and countries found 86% agreeing that one of the world’s most pressing issues is a crisis of leadership. Moreover, Edelman’s (2014) annual survey of public attitudes found that “CEOs and government leaders remain at the bottom of the list” of trusted figures (p. 6). The disconnect between leaders and others in organizations and the erosion of trust in leaders make leading and following harder in practice, a predicament that concerns anyone who claims to lead as much as those who profess to help develop leaders.

Rehumanising leadership and management part one addresses a very large problem in the world today that of fundamentalism, which I define as believing your way is the only way. It's not just political and religious leaders at fault here, it's business leaders too. You can read If you think you're always right, you're wrong here.

Rehumanising leadership and management part two addresses a second problem I encounter over and over in organisations, the poor communication skills of leaders and their unwillingness and/or inability to be candid. You can read 13 ways to be a remarkable communicator and connoisseur of candour here.

Rehumanising leadership and management part three gets to the heart of the matter about "What it means to be human here." It's all about character. You can read Where have all the characters gone? here.

Rehumanising leadership and management part four is all about decision making. At least half of the decisions made by business people are not the best decisions that could be made. You can read The right decisions by the right people at the right time for all the right reasons here.

Rehumanising leadership and management part five is all about ending the great dehumaniser - performance management systems. You can read Shifting from performance management to performance leadership here.

Rehumanising leadership and management part six is about 3 behaviours that will determine your being as a leader. You can read These three behaviours/attitudes show you're being a leader here.

Rehumanising leadership and management part seven is about the hallmark of remarkable workplaces - the majority of people feel valued, fulfilled, and loved. You can read Co-creating cultures where people feel valued, fulfilled and loved here. 

This final article in this series is also Module eleven in my Leadership Momentum Online Learning Program.

Until midnight AEST 31st May 2015 you can get full program, have 24/7 access for one year, plus participate in the group master-mind, Q & A and mentoring sessions that I conduct in camera online every first and third Monday's except January, all for just $27. Take up this offer here. Unlikely I will ever make such an offering ever again.

I look forward to seeing you on the inside.

Be remarkable.

Ian