Why Do We Need Human-Centric Leading?
Because we inherited workplaces designed for predictability and control, not for how humans actually flourish.
We're often expected to work like robots
We've inherited workplace mindsets and structures that have led to mechanizing us humans and humanizing machines. We're expected to separate our minds and hearts and work at the same high level of quality regardless of the contexts we're in. But our contexts affect how we think, feel, act and the results we create. To navigate uncertainty and complex challenges well, we need to access our whole capacity.
We're expected
to ignore
valuable data
We've been taught to "leave our emotions at the door," as though that's possible. Yet they provide valuable data about what's happening within and around us. When we learn to question instead of suppress emotions, we can better see what's needed as a next step. That helps us have a bigger impact in our work without losing our humanity.
Human-Centric Leading Gives Us Another Way
Human-Centric Leading is a simple and practical way to unlearn inherited mindsets and structures that create unwanted behaviors and outcomes so we can design workplaces where we thrive.
Transform your workplace with HCL
Human-Centric Leading – HCL for short – starts with a simple premise: behavior is influenced by context.
Rather than blaming ourselves and each other when problems occur, HCL gives us lenses to understand what's shaping how we think, feel and act. We can then change what keeps producing unwanted behaviors and results.
The five HCL tools/lenses help us respond deliberately instead of reacting habitually. That raises the quality of our presence and improves both our experiences and outcomes at work.
Consider contexts
Do you consider how your workplace affects the ways you think, feel, act and the results you create?
Considering context shifts us from "What's wrong with this person?" to "What in the context is negatively influencing the person and outcomes?" That reduces fault-finding and allows us to identify and change the conditions that keep generating recurring problems.
Choose mindsets
Do you know which mindsets you bring to work? Do they reflect your highest intelligence, expertise and insight?
Choosing mindsets allows us to notice how we’re showing up at work and how we both interpret and address what happens. That’s especially key in situations that trigger us into reactions that we later regret.
Instead of reacting habitually, we can choose to respond deliberately, which better represents our best selves.
Meet needs
When was the last time you understood what you really need at work to be your best amidst fast-paced change, uncertainty and other challenges?
Instead of judging our experiences or behavior as bad or wrong, we can identify what we need to do our best and create conditions that make those needs more likely to be met.
Question emotions
What if you learned how to use emotions as data points to solve problems?
Emotions help us survive and thrive.
Instead of ignoring them or reacting automatically, we can question what they're telling us about what's happening, what we need and what benefits change. That makes emotions useful for building trust, being creative, understanding problems, making better decisions and having more constructive conversations.
Access wisdom
What becomes possible when you step back from the immediate issue and see the bigger picture?
Accessing wisdom allows us to move beyond habitual reactions, assumptions and uncertainty and see the situation from a wider lens.
Wondering what a wise response would be can reveal possibilities we couldn't see while caught inside a problem.
It's a practice that elevates what we can contribute to our work.
