How to Enhance Performance By Showing the Human Side of Leadership

In these uncertain times, human leadership is not about being nice.

It is about taking a psychologically supportive approach to leadership. A way of leading that drive's performance by creating a sense of belonging, being respectful, and providing deeper meaning and purpose for each person in their role. 

Leaders who emphasise the human side of leadership create a safe space for open dialogue and feedback and value dissent and diverse perspectives. Leaders who understand the role of vulnerability and authenticity in building trust and fostering collaboration. By showing their human side and acknowledging challenges, human leaders develop stronger team connections and inspire greater engagement.

Bringing this intention to everyday interactions makes it possible to show the human side of leadership. This psychologically supportive leadership approach helps people navigate the complexity and uncertainty of today’s turbulent times. This approach plays a vital role in bolstering people’s social and emotional well-being and is a way of leading that increases performance. 

As we know, a leader’s behaviour is the critical driver of employee engagement. For a leader to successfully embrace more psychologically supportive behaviours, they must start by developing self-awareness. This includes building a greater understanding of their impact on others and how their values and beliefs influence the work environment they create.

The most effective leaders can balance people—and task-oriented approaches. By prioritising both employees' needs and the organisation's goals, leaders can create a positive work culture that fosters high performance, employee engagement, and overall success. This starts with creating a sense of belonging for everyone on the team, not just the high performers, and valuing differences.

Sense of Belonging

Belonging means acceptance by others. Satisfying this need can help us better cope with the stressors of organisational life. Leaders play a vital role in creating a sense of belonging by being more deliberate in communicating with their team. Leaders often revert to belonging when a valued team member plans to leave an organisation instead of making this a deliberate behaviour each day. Leaders can foster a sense of belonging by connecting with each person in their team consistently. 

Formal and informal interactions reinforce for a team member that ‘my manager values the work I do’. Leading with humanity means taking the time to validate people’s internal experiences, listening to understand their challenges, and creating the basis for offering direction and support. 

In team discussions, leaders who foster belonging value differences and encourage diverse perspectives. These leaders facilitate everyone's involvement and are more conscious of recognising people for their varied contributions instead of solely focusing on the quality of their ideas.

Respectful of Others

When it comes to fostering commitment, engagement, and the well-being of employees, one of the most potent drivers is when a leader shows respect. Respect starts with the small habits that a leader develops, such as being on time for meetings, giving people their full attention and treating everyone equally regardless of status or role. 

A lack of respect often stems from a leader’s lack of self-awareness. Leaders frequently don’t take time to consider their impact on others. When a leader delivers performance feedback respectfully, they understand how development feedback, when given poorly, can trigger a flight or fight response. A lack of respect often stems from inadequate preparation for a feedback conversation.

Respect also demands that leaders believe in their teams’ resourcefulness and ability to get the job done. These leaders look for ways to give people more autonomy that motivates them and reduces stress and burnout. 

Purpose and Meaning

People need a reason to care about achieving organisational goals, especially those just entering the workforce looking for safety, belonging, and a sense of meaning in their work. 

Although extrinsic rewards like incentives are important, we also need the intrinsic reward that comes with leaders giving people a deeper meaning to achieve goals. 

We know from research that when people have a clear sense of purpose, it contributes to increased task persistence and encourages faster learning. When people learn on the job and work towards meaningful goals, it supports their wellbeing, as they are more likely to feel like they are thriving in their role. 

A team's purpose doesn't need to be altruistic; instead, it needs to be credible and relevant so that each person understands how they are making a difference. Leaders who seek to provide deeper meaning make the team purpose a part of daily interactions, with regular updates on each person’s contribution to achieving the shared goals. 

In summary, leading with humanity means being socially and emotionally supportive. This is not a ‘soft’ approach to leadership. It is leadership that recognises one's role in a human system and the challenges of dealing with the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity that come with working in organisations today.  To be successful, we need leaders who are self-aware of their humanity, lead others with authenticity, and desire to help their team thrive.