Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2023 - 9

GUEST EDITOR
SUJATHA DAS
MAXIMIZING POTENTIAL
WITH HUMAN-CENTERED LEADERSHIP
An ever-changing ecosystem is
challenging everyone to step out of their
comfort zones and learn to navigate
through disruption. As organizations are
trying to move from remote to hybrid
modes of working, we are hearing
more about " burnout " and " quiet
quitting. " Addressing these issues is
very critical - and following a path of
human-centered leadership may foster
creativity, resilience and success for
employees and organizations.
HUMAN-CENTERED LEADERSHIP
MUST BE PRACTICED BY EVERYONE
Leadership is not a position, it is a
transformational journey - and with
this premise, every individual should
strive to become a human-centered
leader. No one can achieve excellence,
positive impacts or outcomes all by
themselves. Even if a person plays
an individual contributor role, a lot of
collaboration is required from various
groups to achieve common goals.
Hence, every person should reflect on
the concept of " leading the self. "
The beauty of life is that we are each
unique and bestowed with some
strengths. Yet, we have our limitations
too.
Developing
self-awareness,
emotional intelligence and the ability
to regulate our emotions can enable
us to appreciate the strengths and
limitations of ourselves and others.
Self-awareness is a look into our inner
self which enables us to understand
our own perceptions about various
aspects - be it emotions, traits or
behaviors. Emotional intelligence is
about our ability to understand, use
and regulate or handle our emotions in
a positive manner. We are then able to
listen actively and respond mindfully
to others.
When we wear the hat of a people leader,
we are focusing on " leading others. "
With team members working remotely, it
is critical for every leader to make sure
they develop a strong rapport with their
team members and understand their
needs, strengths, perspectives, growth
aspirations and challenges. This will
enable leaders to empathize with and
coach team members toward personal
and professional growth. It is this
engagement and encouragement that
motivates the team to become a highperforming
team.
When the balance between leading
self and leading others is achieved,
it culminates in organizational
excellence, wherein human-centered
leaders demonstrate the ability to
understand the organization's vision
and accept and adapt to necessary
changes. In this mode, together
everyone can complement their
strengths to achieve excellence.
Three questions we can reflect on to
help us practice the path of humancentered
leadership are:
* Are we able to connect to the purpose
and the meaningful outcomes we
want to achieve?
* Are we able to appreciate the unique
gifts of all the people with whom we
work to collaborate?
* Are we ready to learn, unlearn and
relearn to be able to tap the unlimited
potential and collective wisdom?
To thrive in this disruptive world, it
is important to break down silos,
increase agility, improve innovation
and
drive
toward
long-term
value.
All these are possible only if leaders
today understand the people with
whom they work, while appreciating
and leveraging their team's diversity.
EVERY INDIVIDUAL
SHOULD STRIVE TO
BECOME A HUMANCENTERED
LEADER.
Leadership modeled on empathy will
enable organizations to create an
atmosphere of collaboration, strong
bonding, kindness and compassion
for the people with whom we interact
and work. Collaborative ecosystems
built on the foundation of trust enable
more productivity and excellence.
They also enable us to appreciate and
recognize contributions from individual
contributors, which in turn increases the
happiness quotient (and thus the bottom
line) for the organization.
Sujatha Das is the global head of
knowledge excellence for Tavant, an
information technology (IT) services
and consulting firm. She has almost
30 years of experience working in
strategic and tactical leadership and
training and organizational learning.
Email Sujatha.
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2023 I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
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https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/empathy-in-leadership-creating-a-culture-of-understanding/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/empathy-in-leadership-creating-a-culture-of-understanding/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/leadership-development-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/professional-development/effective-communication-skills-start-with-emotional-intelligence/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/leadership-development-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/leadership-development-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2023

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