How to be a human leader

What it means to lead people, as a human

We firmly believe that how leaders lead is just as important as the end result – and is undoubtedly the driving force behind getting there in the first place.

But what does human leadership actually look like?

Championing feedback

Create an environment that fosters feedback and continuous learning to enable professional growth, for everyone. Employees should have the opportunity to learn and improve their skills in an environment where they aren’t judged for not getting it right the first time. Mistakes should be viewed as opportunities to improve, and leaders must demonstrate a willingness to seek and receive feedback themselves – acknowledging that even they cannot get everything right, all of the time.

However, our latest survey found that a staggering 75% of HR professionals feel their leaders do not welcome feedback and fail to take any on-board, suggesting a worrying lack of self-awareness. Without establishing a culture of feedback, learning and progress are slow, hindering growth for both leaders and their organisations.

75%

of leaders aren't recognising the importance of feedback.

^{The mindset we bring as leaders is contagious. If we embrace trial and error as a growth strategy and treat problems as ways to learn, this becomes the culture for all. Organisations that create a positive dynamic around experimentation, feedback, and trust, are 30% more likely to be a market leader (Bersin and associates). Which shouldn’t surprise us as Google’s Aristotle research showed that the most important}
^{feature for performance is an environment of psychological safety - feeling safe in a team to take risks, make mistakes, and be honest without blame. If I was asked what the common thread is for the most successful businesses I’ve worked with, it would be a high-quality feedback culture – it really is a superpower!”}

Lorraine Mills, Principal Consultant - Right Management

Developing high-performing teams and networks

Encourage collaboration and unite employees on shared goals to create synergies and help them achieve a sense of connection in their working lives. Our research found that 70% of people believe they work better as a team when working together in person, while our Gen Z report found that 40% of employees say their colleagues help them to be at their best.

In this increasingly hybrid world, employees want to feel connected, and leaders who recognise and facilitate this sense of connection – by removing siloed working practices and encouraging cross-function collaboration – will see much higher levels of employee engagement, as well as a potential increase in profitability of up to 21%.

Coaching to unleash talent and careers

Create a coaching culture by utilising coaching skills in conversations with direct reports. Leaders who actively listen and demonstrate empathy when speaking with team members will be able to establish a more human connection with their employees – gathering an in-depth insight into who they are as people, what they value and where they want to take their career.

Not only will this enable leaders to more effectively help these individuals reach their full potential – with 67% of employees who have benefitted from skills coaching saying it has improved their overall job performance – but relationships between leaders and direct reports will also be strengthened through improved communication and a greater sense of trust.

Communicating with impact

Employees want transparency when it comes to key topics such as business performance – both financial and against wider societal issues – as well as career development decisions.

ManpowerGroup research found that people are now increasingly critical of organisations falling short of meeting ESG goals; while our own survey found that employees are sceptical as to how development decisions are made – doubting the argument that they’re based solely on scientific data around people’s skills and capabilities, and believing instead that they’re influenced by other factors such as who you know (21%) and the length of tenure (15%).

But when leaders are open and clear in communicating updates on these important topics, misinformed perceptions are quickly put to bed and higher levels of satisfaction, motivation and productivity are seen throughout the workforce.

Strong cultures are established and maintained by great leaders. But how do you ensure all leaders, both existing and future, adopt the same approach to the way they lead?

1 in 5

employees believe development decisions are based on ‘who you know’