Practicing Humanistic Leadership when the people around you - are not.

I recently did a talk for 7,000 people online on Humanistic Leadership.  One person asked me in the chat: I want to ask that if one person is following and practicing these all things but other colleagues are not then in that case what can we do? 

A leader is someone people - follow.  To be a leader - means - you have to be courageous.  It means - choosing to do the right thing - even when the right thing is hard. And encouraging others to do the right thing too.

Being a leader - doesn't mean - being a boss. Ordering people around - is what managers do. Leaders - inspire and encourage people to follow them.

The question of - whether you can practice humanistic leadership if others around you don't - is - yes - and you absolutely should choose to be ethical - even if and especially if - the people around you - aren't being ethical!

This is a choice you make because of who you want to be. It's the choice to courageously be authentic to yourself and to your values and to encourage others to do the same. 

You don't need anyone else's permission to be humanistic in your approach to life and work and leadership.  You just choose to be that way. 

What will happen depends when you do this - will vary. I can't guarantee success. Unethical people - if they are your bosses - probably won't respond well. It happens. But ... if the bosses are ethical - they will see you - and acknowledge you for being the ethical person you have chosen to be.

I've had both happen. I've only really lost one job and it's because I stood up to my boss and told him that he must never say racist things in front of me ever again.  I've also stood up to bullies and have the chairman of the board call me to thank me and let me know I had their full support before they fired the problem person.

To me - while I prefer to have the good things happen by being good. The benefit of being a good person and making a point to be a good person - even in difficult situations - is that I know - I've done my best. My sense of dignity has remained firmed. 

If you want to be more humanistic - no one can stop you. Just - be a good person. Live your values. Be compassionate, honest and responsible with everyone you meet. Your reputation will benefit from this choice and - while the unethical people around you won't like it - most people you meet - will be thrilled and your social status will benefit as a result - because - the number of unethical people - is actually - small when compared to the silent majority who are sick of the unethical people but don't have the courage to do anything about it.

Want to lead - truly lead - approach everything you do and every person you meet - humanistically.

Learn more:

I have a variety of online programs where I teach not only Humanism but how to apply Humanism to your daily life and decision making. Check out my course offerings here - https://humanistlearning.com/programsoffered/

Principles of Leadership – Army Style

What the army concept of leadership can teach us about how to be better leaders ourselves.

One of my friends sent me this link: http://www.pisd.edu/news/documents/2010_MLK_Principles_of_Leadership.pdf

It is a list of 11 leadership principles as stated in a JROTC document.  It is titled 11 Army Leadership Principles.  What is interesting to me about this list is that everything on it is part of the humanist approach to leadership.  The 11 rules can be broken down into 3 categories:

Critical Thinking:

• ·         Principle #1 – Know Yourself and Seek Self Improvement
• ·         Principle #4 – Make Sound and Timely Decisions
• ·         Principle #9 – Ensure Each Task is Understood, Supervised and Accomplished

Personal Responsibility

• ·         Principle #2 – Be Technically Proficient
• ·         Principle #3 – Seek Responsibility and Take Responsibility for Your Actions
• ·         Principle #5 – Set the Example
• ·         Principle #7 – Keep Your Followers Informed
• ·         Principle #8 – Develop A Sense of Responsibility In Your Followers

Compassion:

• ·         Principle #6 – Know Your Personnel and Look Out for Their Well Being
• ·         Principle #10 – Build A Team
• ·         Principle #11 – Employ Your Team In Accordance With Its Capabilities
•  

What I find interesting about this list is that the emphasis is on personal responsibility. 5 of the principles are about this topic.  Critical Thinking and Compassion have 3 principles each.

And I basically agree with this. Mostly. I personally feel that in order to do the job of a leader, you do have to recognize your team as fully human and support them accordingly.  But responsibility is huge too. Without that, you won’t make the effort to make good sound timely decisions.

It’s a good reminder as I focus on ethics and critical thinking and compassion, that responsibility is equally important to my practice as a Humanist.

What do you think of this list? Do you agree with it? What would you change?