Leading CEOs know the key to their success is putting people first. Anthony Howard outlines how a human-centred approach to leadership does not need to be ‘fluffy’ or risk averse
“We fan existential challenge,” said ‘Ian’ some years ago as we discussed his key challenges. As CEO of one of the country’s largest organisations he was unsure whether the business would survive the impact of a major natural disaster and was deeply concerned about how that would impact on its people.
The crisis created an opportunity to review the entire business model and change the way the firm operated. Under Ian’s leadership the firm shifted from a linear, evidence-based model to a purpose-driven firm that cares deeply about its people and customers. They have broken down silo mentalities and created a collaborative environment spanning functions, borders, industry and government. The firm is deeply engaged in the community of which they are a part.
Although you may not be facing a natural disaster, you are facing a seismic shift in the way business operates. You are in a moment of great change, which requires a new approach to business and leadership. While many commentators look from a geopolitical, economic or strategic perspective, I look through a human lens and note two key challenges that depersonalise people and require a human response.
Economic framework
Thinking about business and management has been built on an economic perspective that believes the purpose of business is to create shareholder value. In an economic world we measure, predict, make rules, and use systems and processes to deliver against KPIs, results and outcomes.
This approach leads to one of the great management myths: people are our greatest asset. In reality, we treat people as units of economic production, whose function is to deliver results as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
In an economic world it is easy to treat people not as an asset but as a liability.
The threat of artificial intelligence
In the early 1960s Peter Drucker wrote an article called ‘The manager and the moron’, which talked about a new ‘dumb’ machine that would do all the low-end processing work and be available at all hours to do whatever you asked whenever you asked it. That computer has morphed into IBM’s Watson, which has the cognitional capability of a human brain and can process vast amounts of data at hyper speed. It is used, for example, by the Mayo Clinic to do medical diagnoses. In this world, the human person can become a mere object to Watson, a tool for completing a task.
Recent reports suggest 5,000,000 jobs will disappear in Australia over the next generation because of artificial intelligence. Watson and his descendants will do anything that may be automated – and that is almost everything, except for human-touch jobs – and they will do it in a non-emotional and probably morally neutral manner.
The changes being wrought by technology, and a number of other forces, give rise to two important questions:
What kind of organisation do you need to create to succeed in this environment?
Building on what made you successful in the past, you need to create an organisation that does four things well:
1. It needs to be purpose-driven. A purpose endures over time and across generations. It is something like the North Star or a lighthouse sought by navigators to give them guidance towards their destination. It explains why the organisation exists and gives meaning to your colleagues and clients.
2. You need to create a caring organisation in which people are more important than performance, and you recognise human beings and do whatever you can to contribute to their growth, development and wellbeing.
3. It is a collaborative organisation, rather than primarily a competitive organisation. Collaboration arises from an abundance mentality that believes there is sufficient for everyone, rather than a scarcity mentality that believes in limited opportunity and resources.
4. Successful organisations will be fi rmly anchored in society. This is demonstrated by Paul Polman, global CEO of Unilever, who is at the forefront of a movement that recognises business cannot prosper in a community that fails. He points out that businesses have to know what they are doing to contribute to solving the world’s problems.
Secondly, what kind of leader do you need to be to lead in the new world?
Future-fit organisations need human-centred leaders who put people first, who integrate the moral and technical dimensions of leadership, and who create an environment in which people can fl ourish. Leadership is fi rstly a relationship between two or more people. If there is no relationship, there is no leadership because you don’t have a follower. And because leadership involves people and decision-making, it has a moral dimension. Leadership involves supporting and choosing what is proper, not just what is permissible – ie doing what is morally right, not just legally right.
‘Arjay’ had recently joined Ian’s executive team and related a story that demonstrated human-centred leadership. At his previous firm a colleague had reported on unforeseen events that meant their division would miss the forecast numbers. The CEO exploded with find a shared solution?”
Ian is a human-centred leader, building a human-centred organisation.
Rather than viewing progress or change through the eyes of technology, economics or politics, you can gain a much richer perspective by looking at the people in your organisation. The human person is the starting point for leadership, for activity, for proper outcomes.
In the face of depersonalisation brought about by economic models and rampant technology, we need human-centred leadership more than ever before. We need human-centred leaders to build the kind of organisation in which people can be treated as human beings, which respects its place in society, and which upholds what is right. Human-centred leadership is the key to success in the 21st century.
The crisis created an opportunity to review the entire business model and change the way the firm operated. Under Ian’s leadership the firm shifted from a linear, evidence-based model to a purpose-driven firm that cares deeply about its people and customers. They have broken down silo mentalities and created a collaborative environment spanning functions, borders, industry and government. The firm is deeply engaged in the community of which they are a part.
Although you may not be facing a natural disaster, you are facing a seismic shift in the way business operates. You are in a moment of great change, which requires a new approach to business and leadership. While many commentators look from a geopolitical, economic or strategic perspective, I look through a human lens and note two key challenges that depersonalise people and require a human response.
Economic framework
Thinking about business and management has been built on an economic perspective that believes the purpose of business is to create shareholder value. In an economic world we measure, predict, make rules, and use systems and processes to deliver against KPIs, results and outcomes.
This approach leads to one of the great management myths: people are our greatest asset. In reality, we treat people as units of economic production, whose function is to deliver results as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
In an economic world it is easy to treat people not as an asset but as a liability.
The threat of artificial intelligence
In the early 1960s Peter Drucker wrote an article called ‘The manager and the moron’, which talked about a new ‘dumb’ machine that would do all the low-end processing work and be available at all hours to do whatever you asked whenever you asked it. That computer has morphed into IBM’s Watson, which has the cognitional capability of a human brain and can process vast amounts of data at hyper speed. It is used, for example, by the Mayo Clinic to do medical diagnoses. In this world, the human person can become a mere object to Watson, a tool for completing a task.
Recent reports suggest 5,000,000 jobs will disappear in Australia over the next generation because of artificial intelligence. Watson and his descendants will do anything that may be automated – and that is almost everything, except for human-touch jobs – and they will do it in a non-emotional and probably morally neutral manner.
The changes being wrought by technology, and a number of other forces, give rise to two important questions:
What kind of organisation do you need to create to succeed in this environment?
Building on what made you successful in the past, you need to create an organisation that does four things well:
1. It needs to be purpose-driven. A purpose endures over time and across generations. It is something like the North Star or a lighthouse sought by navigators to give them guidance towards their destination. It explains why the organisation exists and gives meaning to your colleagues and clients.
2. You need to create a caring organisation in which people are more important than performance, and you recognise human beings and do whatever you can to contribute to their growth, development and wellbeing.
3. It is a collaborative organisation, rather than primarily a competitive organisation. Collaboration arises from an abundance mentality that believes there is sufficient for everyone, rather than a scarcity mentality that believes in limited opportunity and resources.
4. Successful organisations will be fi rmly anchored in society. This is demonstrated by Paul Polman, global CEO of Unilever, who is at the forefront of a movement that recognises business cannot prosper in a community that fails. He points out that businesses have to know what they are doing to contribute to solving the world’s problems.
Secondly, what kind of leader do you need to be to lead in the new world?
Future-fit organisations need human-centred leaders who put people first, who integrate the moral and technical dimensions of leadership, and who create an environment in which people can fl ourish. Leadership is fi rstly a relationship between two or more people. If there is no relationship, there is no leadership because you don’t have a follower. And because leadership involves people and decision-making, it has a moral dimension. Leadership involves supporting and choosing what is proper, not just what is permissible – ie doing what is morally right, not just legally right.
‘Arjay’ had recently joined Ian’s executive team and related a story that demonstrated human-centred leadership. At his previous firm a colleague had reported on unforeseen events that meant their division would miss the forecast numbers. The CEO exploded with find a shared solution?”
Ian is a human-centred leader, building a human-centred organisation.
Rather than viewing progress or change through the eyes of technology, economics or politics, you can gain a much richer perspective by looking at the people in your organisation. The human person is the starting point for leadership, for activity, for proper outcomes.
In the face of depersonalisation brought about by economic models and rampant technology, we need human-centred leadership more than ever before. We need human-centred leaders to build the kind of organisation in which people can be treated as human beings, which respects its place in society, and which upholds what is right. Human-centred leadership is the key to success in the 21st century.
