Humanizing Leadership

Is Life Getting Better or Worse?

Max Roser, founder of Our World in Data, developed a survey and asked, “All things considered, do you think the world is getting better or worse, or neither getting better nor worse?” In Sweden, 10% thought things are getting better, in the US they were only 6%, and in Germany 4%. Very few people think that the world is getting better (Roser, 2018). This global research with many partners shows that we have fewer people in extreme poverty, significantly improved literacy, increased health conditions, longevity, decreased child mortality rates, and better education rates; they are all getting better at an accelerated pace. Roser blames the media that keeps promoting only negative news about how the world is doing and suggests we should notice the positive changes. It is great to see humanity progress on these very basics tenets of being human, finding food, education, health and community (and we should keep working on these until there is no starving person on earth), yet what is happening within the group of people that have food and jobs? What are the systems we are living in doing to the rest of humanity and to earth?

Roser’s research does not comment on any of the environmental challenges, such as global warming, pollution, animals and plants becoming extinct, micro-plastics present in our oceans and waters, and also other challenges like increasing consumption of medicine, antibiotics, antidepressants, obesity, cancer, and workplace challenges in terms of well-being, lack of movement, bullying, toxicity etc. The Global Burden of Disease study (Adams, 2012) claims that, with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, eating too much is now a more serious risk to the health of populations than eating poorly, resulting in three times more deaths than malnutrition. Where are we heading with this pace of consumerism?

The (Dis-)Engagement Levels and Lack of Meaning at Work

As I am coming from the organizational/corporate world, a question I feel comfortable with is what is it like to work in an organization in the 21st century. What do people expect from their workplaces? “What the whole world wants is a good job” was the breakthrough finding from Gallup’s 2015 World Poll survey (Gallup, 2015). First, a good job is 30+ hours per week of consistent work with a pay cheque from an employer. The next step is a great job, which is a good job where one is engaged in the workplace. People who are engaged at work use their strengths, know what’s expected of them, and believe their job matters as opposed to people “not engaged” or “actively disengaged.” Gallup (2015) found that among the 1.3 billion people that have a good job, only 12% were engaged in their jobs. Another report by Mann and Harter (2016) summarized that employee engagement has barely budged in well over a decade. To repeat, within the global workforce—people working for governments, corporations, universities, non-profits—only 12% are engaged. The study shows that 42% of jobs in Canada are good jobs, but only 8% are great jobs (Gallup 2015). More than a billion people in the global workforce are not engaged, do not use their strengths, and do not believe their jobs matter. Millions of people in Canada are in the same situation. How does this affect the families, the community, humanity, and the world? How does it affect human beings not to be able to utilize their strengths and feel meaningfully connected to what they do most of their lives? What if hundreds of millions of people feeling a disconnect with their true selves, not engaged, not connected to their strengths and not passionate about what they do in life, making them further self-centred in their lives, more distant from each other, and more distant from the world?

Humanizing Leadership

People create organizations, and people lead these organizations. How we define and perceive leadership must change so we can start building a more connected and healthier world. For me, the solution lies in building self-awareness, self-cultivation, bringing inner work to balance for our disproportionate effort on the outside world. In my work and studies, I bring and explore different philosophies of leadership and different leadership development paradigms. I call the essence of my work: humanizing leadership and I will start writing and sharing more examples here on Linkedin.

Humanity has learned to overcome many challenges over its history. I believe we can improve this issue and I hope to bring perspectives and approaches on how to go there.