The Future is Human
Three recent situations make me believe this statement will be true.
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to participate in a great workplace summit, primarily targeted at CHROs, focusing on the new leadership playbook required for success today and in the future. As you might expect, there was a discussion about where people work and what AI will bring to the workplace. But, an overwhelming theme across the talks was the value of human-centric workplaces where the focus is on creating environments where people thrive. We know if people are thriving at work, the organization will create a more significant impact and realize their growth potential.
Today, I was listening to a conversation in another group I’m part of where they were discussing a recent business retreat, and they realized they left not really knowing what work people did because the conversations were so focused on the people themselves. They were focused on the life stories.
Last weekend, I traveled with friends to Lake George for an adult getaway. Was there a passing conversation about how things were going at work, yes. Was it the focus, no. The focus was on how we all were doing the life thing - the relationship side of living. One way to deepen relationships is to do fun things together and laugh, and there was definitely plenty of that (likely enhanced with a few cocktails).
Our human skills are critical for both day-to-day living but also success in the workplace. The most in-demand skill on LinkedIn job postings is communication skills. The World Economic Forum looks at the future of skills and recently posted this video highlighting the changing demand for specific skill areas, and you’ll note that many of them are our human skills. You’ll see the rising criticality of leadership skills.
I fundamentally believe that strong leaders are the key to creating great workplaces, and the ones that aren’t are the reason people leave organizations. To be a great leader going forward, you have to demonstrate many of the things we’ve talked about for years but may not have reinforced - empathy, curiosity, collaboration, and navigating paradox and complexity. At the Summit, I was pleased to hear others say that the role of the manager/leader of the future looks much more like a sports coach than a traditional supervisor because I’ve been sharing this perspective for 5+ years now.
For years, the world of work has been focused on the industrialization of processes and productivity. It’s time for it to change so that we augment the work technology can do with what we are best at… being human. As one speaker shared, we are moving to becoming a relationship economy so that’s where we need to focus.
I hope you take away the following recommendations:
Spend time deepening your relationships - personal and professional
Define what kind of future leader you want to be and start showing up that way.
If you have gaps (and we all do) in some of your human-centric capabilities, commit to doing something about it. You know I’m here if you’re looking for executive coaching support so reach out if I can help.
Make sure that you are prioritizing time to laugh and have fun so you can remember not to take work so seriously.
Have a great weekend!
Making sure you have a strategy in place for how you want to lead yourself, your team, and your organization is key. Let's get you back on track together. Schedule a 90-minute strategy session with me.