Discover The Actual Evidence-Based Behaviors of a Leader With Sesil Pir

Sesil Pir is recognized as an expert Human Resource thought leader, focusing on changing the status quo of work and championing humanity into the global workplace.

Sesil is the founder and Principal Consultant of SESIL PIR Consulting GmbH, a boutique management consultancy, and Founder of Whirling Chief, a global digital collaboration & learning platform.  Sesil is an active contributor to Forbes, has been published in the Harvard Business Review, HR Zone, UK’s HR Magazine, and has contributed to several Human Resources Management books.

Today I talk to Sesil about how the art and science of human-centered leadership remind us all that it always comes down to how you lead yourself and others around you, through connection and caring.

Key Leadership Takeaways:

  • Businesses need to serve a purpose broader than just revenue generation, organizations need to ground culture in humanity and leaders need to become more mindful of their way of ‘being’ to effectively influence a growing network of stakeholders.
  • It is more imperative now than ever for businesses to consider the potential gaps and opportunities in redefining and preparing a transition a full cycle work experience to ignite lasting engagement.
  • Five common leadership behaviors that challenge the way traditional organizations conceptualize the philosophy of leading:
    • 1. Leaders sit in many chairs: Inside these organizations, we found leadership is rarely dedicated to a few at the top. Instead, all people – despite tenure, rank, title, or role feel and act as a leader. They feel fully engaged, trusted, and empowered in decision making. We can no longer afford to think about leadership only in terms of particular roles. We need the full humanity, creativity, empathy, and contribution of each person in the organization to shine. Leadership is no longer just power or status—a human-centered approach requires us to awaken potential everywhere.
    • 2. Leaders lead themselves: Inside these organizations, we found a leader’s ability to influence a large network of individuals relies heavily on their confirmed levels of self-esteem and their willingness to be more self-aware. The new world of work is also a new world of focus, self-regulation, and presence. What leaders choose not to do is often as important as what they choose to do. Human-centered leadership shifts their focus on self-leadership before leading others.
    • 3. Leaders lead to win minds, hands, and hearts: Inside these organizations, we found leaders’ demonstrated capacity to connect to inner wisdom and to access a new and different way of ‘being’ unprecedented. It’s a well-used phrase that leaders must win over the minds of those they hope to lead, but in the new world of work, leaders must also consider that human beings are whole people with many choices over what they do and how they do it and aim to provide holistic experiences beyond rationale and data.
    • 4. Leaders lead for execution and connection: In relating to their role, we found inside these organizations, leaders aim as much for high-quality connections as they do for high-quality operational execution. Most managers begin their careers climbing the ladder of success by getting a lot done. They implicitly develop a managerial style that emphasizes execution because tasks and accomplishments seem central to success. In a world, where the advantage comes from empathy and creativity in addition to technical prowess and execution excellence, the best leaders are those who lead with connections at the center of their work.
    • 5. Leaders are purposeful about growth: Inside these organizations, we found leaders leverage their authority to proactively invest in capability and capacity development – both at an individual and collective level. It is not uncommon for us to discuss ‘growth’ – in numbers, inside our businesses. In a world, where our global workforce is stretched for its mental and emotional capabilities and the change of pace is unprecedented, it becomes critical for those in influencing roles to remain committed to learning, to tap, and to unleash the power that’s already within each one of us.

Leader Action Plan:

  • Be purposeful in building a competitive advantage through sustainable culture transformations.
  • Create meaningful experiences for every member of the global workforce.

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Until next time…remember that Iron Sharpens Iron, make yourself and others around you better every day!