The three most essential qualities of a humanistic leader
A student recently asked me what I thought were the top three qualities of a humanistic leader. This was a good question I had not considered before, as I usually discuss many attributes. So, after some reflection, I settled on these, in this order: integrity, communication, and curiosity.
Integrity means being trustworthy, honest, ethical, and living according to one’s values.
A person who has integrity is reliable and stays with their most essential beliefs despite external pressures.
This is my number one value as well.
Communication means expressing ideas, thoughts, and feelings respectfully and straightforwardly. It also means listening deeply, expressing oneself, and understanding verbal and nonverbal communication methods. This includes showing empathy and providing helpful feedback.
Curiosity means having an open mind and approach to understanding more about other people, ideas, and the amazing world we live in. It means being interested enough to ask questions and seek new knowledge and experience. Often, a curious person will ask about why and how things occur. A curious person will explore new ideas with an open mind.
In summary, a humanistic leader with integrity, the ability to communicate, and curiosity will enable personal growth for themselves and others, fueling creativity and innovation, development, learning, and the ability to adapt to change.
Humanistic leaders are systems thinkers.
As leaders of ourselves and others, we must be systems thinkers. This is the second tier of the humanistic leadership model (HLM).
A systems thinker understands that everything in a system is interconnected and that a slight change to the system can have a significant effect.
For example, a company may have supplier delays, which impacts customer demand.
Poor leadership in one department leads to employee retention rates dropping.
Any bias in AI design will have an impact on human behavior.
In any system, there is a concept called unintended consequences.
This means that things that were not anticipated will usually occur in any system.
For example, a new bonus system for the sales staff may cause some sales staff to offer customers the wrong products to increase sales.
Too much emphasis on testing and grades can reduce students’ critical thinking and creativity in education.
The more we automate, the fewer opportunities exist for people to impact society.
If a company cuts employees, the remaining employees suddenly become less productive and worry that they will be next.
We feel bad, so to reward ourselves, we turn to an addiction that only makes the problem worse the next day.
Humanistic leaders understand that any changes in the system will affect the entire system, including some minor changes.
So, to be humanistic leaders of ourselves and others, we must understand every system we are a part of, monitor and measure it, and anticipate what new change might do to it.
Listening is hard work.
To be an effective leader of ourselves and others, we must become better listeners. Listening is hard work. We know at a deep level when people are not listening to us, but we ignore it and continue talking anyway.
Many of us are so distracted these days due to the increased technological society that we live in.
We tend to selectively listen (also called confirmation bias) to confirm what we already think we know or believe, and in the process, we miss out on what the speaker is saying or their views.
Many of us are easily triggered, tired, impatient, or worse, we allow our egos to take over our interpersonal communication with others.
So, what can we do to become better listeners?
First, put away the phone when listening to others; otherwise, the conversation is doomed.
When listening to others, take a moment to relax, breathe deeply, and strive to be curious about the other person. Since you already know this, please ask questions, show interest and care in the other person, and clarify to increase your understanding.
It is helpful to pause when listening to another person, try hard not to interrupt, and watch for nonverbal signals since that is the majority of our communication. All of this will take practice, patience, and discipline, but you will find that your listening and relationships will improve.
Leadership requires listening.
People are good
We can have empathy and compassion toward each other.
Recently, I noticed, for example, on the app Next Door, how often people help strangers by sacrificing their time or resources to help others in need.
Our core capacity is to collaborate. Collaboration with others builds community and can prevent loneliness.
We grow stronger after helping others; we feel good about ourselves and less selfish.
When we help others in need, our perception and sense of the world change positively.
We are not perfect, and we make mistakes, but again, at our core, we strive to be good and take care of others.
We all have the essence of humanistic leadership within us; we just have to acknowledge it more often.
People are good.
Happy holidays.