The global disruption of the pandemic in the workplace has made blatantly apparent what has always been true: organizations that do not acknowledge the humanity of their workforce will neither retain nor unleash the potential of those they employ. Now, more than ever, people are taking it upon themselves to recalibrate their lives towards meaningful work that aligns with their values and allows them to show up as their full selves. Organizations must recalibrate as well by becoming human-centered in both approach and practice. And human-centered organizations require human-centered leaders.

Here are four guiding principles we employ in our work that you can also practice in your journey to become a human-centered leader.

  1. Engage in Practices that Promote Self-Awareness Self-awareness is key to making good decisions. A self-aware leader is a more self-assured leader and a more humane leader. Yet too often we stay on auto-pilot, allowing the daily grind of work and family obligations to govern our decisions and actions and avoiding the critical work of self-examination.
  2. Make Time for Personal Refreshment The human experience is not made up of work alone, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that working harder is the only answer to becoming a better leader. Make the time to step away from your desk, meetings, and Zoom calls to do something simply for the sake of fun and personal enjoyment. Intentional breaks will refresh the creative part of your brain that is needed to open your mind and problem solve.
  3. Prioritize Alignment Over Agreement Agreement is not necessary when alignment is prioritized. Being a leader would be easy if everyone in the workplace thought exactly the same way, but humans are complicated entities and striving for universal agreement is a fool’s errand.
  4. Create Spaces Where Everyone Can Be Brave Instead of seeking spaces where you feel comfort, challenge yourself to engage in spaces where you can be brave. It is human to seek safety and security, but too much safety means we might miss opportunities to learn and grow.

Read the full article about human-centered leadership by Kalissa Hendrickson, Philip Javellana, and Dave Rosenzweig at The Aspen Institute.