Human-Centered Leadership

Amidst the challenges during the last few years, we’ve seen the rise of a new kind of leader: one that puts the needs and experiences of people on par with profitability. One that recognizes that, without investments in people, organizations will fail. One that leads with empathy, listening, and actions that drive meaningful change for people in organizations.

This is the rise of the human-centered leader.

In the Human-Centered Leadership Program, built from in-depth qualitative research conducted by our partners at the Josh Bersin Company, we’ll dig into this phenomenon. We will examine the emergence of human-centered leadership (HCL) and discuss why it will have a significant impact on the way we lead and manage for years to come. We’ll look specifically at how human-centered leadership philosophies can inspire and inform our work as people leaders, even if we aren’t in formal positions of leadership. And we’ll discover ways to assess and measure our progress as we and the leaders of our organizations move toward increased human-centeredness.

  • ApproachOnline social learning, teams of 30-50

  • Learning Time4-6 Hours

  • Duration5 weeks. Next starting: September 20, 2023
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Key Questions You’ll Explore in this Program

What are the core differences between a human-centered leader and a business-centered leader?

How has the shift to human-centered leadership had an impact on the HR field?

What are the core mindsets, skills, and behaviors of a human-centered leader?

How can human-centered leaders help to alleviate stress and center wellbeing at work ?

What does a human-centered culture look like? What role can HR professionals play in fostering, nurturing, and inspiring that culture?

How can we measure the impact of shifting to a human-centered business culture? What are some key success indicators? What are some key people outcomes?

Field Manuals

The Human-Centered Leadership Program is made up of 5 Field Manuals (our version of an online module). Each one contains a variety of types of content and social exercises culminating in a mini-project, reflection, or debate. Each Field Manual will take you between 30-45 minutes to complete but you can jump on and off at your own pace, as often as you’d like. The deeper learning happens in the discussions with your fellow learners so be sure to check in on the conversations regularly.

Human-Centered vs. Business-Centered Leadership

As philosophies of human-centered leadership arise, what are they replacing? What is “traditional” leadership and how is it business-centered, sometimes at the cost of human experience? We’ll look closely at the difference in these leadership philosophies and the values that underpin them.

Become a Human-Centered Leader

Traditional leaders are driven by personal growth, financial success, job titles, and promotions, while HCLs focus on inspiration, skills, empowerment, connections, and culture. In this Field Manual, we’ll examine the core behaviors of a HCL and question what it takes to be a HCL.

Focus on Wellbeing

People are our most valuable asset and the main priority of a HCL in any function, and especially in HR. But we are in a prolonged period of stress, uncertainty, and elevated demands on people’s time, energy, and finances. In this Field Manual, we’ll investigate how leading from a human-centered mindset helps decrease stress levels and increase motivation and productivity among our teams.

Cultivate a Human-Centered Culture

Human-centered leadership doesn’t stop at the individual. To create real change, we need to build a culture of human-centeredness that brings greater humanity in the way we lead, manage, and grow employees across the organization. As culture leaders, we in HR are especially critical to this shift. This Field Manual offers some key actions that can help develop a HCL culture in your organization.

Measure Progress

No one will become a HCL overnight. It’s a continuous, ongoing process. But in order to know how we’re doing—both as individuals and as organizations—we need to measure our progress. In this Field Manual, we’ll look at the skills of the HCL and how we can measure progress toward them. We’ll identify some KPIs of human-centered organizations and remember that a human-centered culture is not a destination, it is a journey.

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