What drives me to believe in Human Centered Leadership? It’s that power is in the people. Power to achieve. Power to get results. Power to support and challenge others.
One of my tribe has often quoted Wolfie, from a 1970s UK sitcom called Citizen Smith. Wolfie often chanted “Power to the People”. I do love that quote, as it means we can all stand up and be counted. But I like “Power IN the people” as the precursor to it.
You see, I think you need the mind-set that power is already in the people to achieve, get results, support and challenge others – or to withhold their discretionary effort, their power to achieve, get results, support and challenge others – before you will actually give people to the people. Am I making sense?
No business can survive without its people. So understanding what makes them tick is vital. You want to unleash that power within, and you can only do that by understanding them – at an individual level. Understanding what people need at a macro level (all the motivational theories that abound) is one thing; understanding each individual on your team and pulling the levers that will enhance their performance is quite another. Let’s not crowd-source motivation; let’s treat everyone as unique and give them back their power.
