Last week I told you about the three kinds of leaders—The “It’s All Good” Leader (aka non-intentional), The “Perfect” Leader (aka a bit robotic), and The Great Human Leader (aka the right amount of messy!).
Today I want to tell you how to become a great human leader.
But first let’s review what a great human leader does:
- Connect people to purpose
- Connect people to each other
- Connect people to themselves
Sounds good, right? But how exactly do great human leaders do it? They do it by embracing just the right amount of messy.
Specifically:
Vulnerability. Great human leaders don’t pretend they have all of the answers. They are willing to say, I don’t know or I messed up (get it?). And, they remember that we’re still talking about the workplace…so they don’t have to share EVERYTHING!
Empathy. Great human leaders strive to be empathetic and approach employees as humans. They actually care about them and want to know how their employees are really, really doing!
Experimentation. Great human leaders are willing to try things out and will keep trying until they get it right. Yes, it might be messy, but that’s part of the process.
So as technology continues to increase and impact every aspect of our lives, great human leaders will play an increasingly important role in why people join a company, give 110%, and why they decide to stay.
And, I know that every single person can be that kind of leader by understanding what great human leaders do and how they do it. And the best part is…you not only don’t have to be perfect at it—it’s actually better if you’re not!
A little messy goes a long way.
3/18/25
