Human-Centred Leadership?

On a grey Friday morning, a group of executives, consultants, and curious practitioners gathered virtually to consider a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to lead with humans at the centre? The facilitator, Sanna Rissanen - founder of My Human Self - was quick to admit her own unease with the phrase human-centred leadership. “It doesn’t quite capture what I mean,” she confessed, “but I haven’t found a better word yet”. Her candour was disarming, and it set the tone for what followed: a conversation less about models and metrics, more about vulnerability, complexity, and the inner lives of those who carry the weight of modern organisations.

The world as it is

The backdrop is familiar and relentless: artificial intelligence, climate change, cyber risk, geopolitical instability, talent shortages, economic uncertainty. “People are tired,” Rissanen noted, “fatigued by constant disruption”. And yet, what struck her in reviewing research from McKinsey and Egon Zehnder was that CEOs themselves are not naming business issues as their greatest struggles. Instead, 60% per cent of their challenges are “human-centric questions” - how to relate to their teams, their boards, even their own families.

In 2021, just a quarter of CEOs surveyed said they needed to embark on a “dual journey” of personal and organisational transformation. By 2024, that number had leapt to 80 per cent. In other words, leaders now recognise that managing external complexity requires them first to manage themselves.

The inner game

The conversation turned, as it often does in leadership circles, to what truly makes leaders effective. Capabilities like strategic thinking or decision-making are necessary, Rissanen explained, but “necessary is not the same as adequate.” What actually predicts leadership effectiveness is what researchers call the inner game: self-awareness, emotional intelligence, the ability to interrogate one’s own beliefs, values and mental models.

Robert Kegan’s theory of adult development loomed large in the session. Most adults - between 60 and 80 per cent - operate from what he calls the “socialised mind,” shaped heavily by external validation. Fewer reach the “self-authoring mind,” where they begin to take radical responsibility for their own emotions, beliefs, and actions. Progression is not about acquiring more knowledge; it is about fundamentally altering how we make sense of ourselves and the world. It is about evolving our inner game.

To illuminate the point, Rissanen introduced the idea of reactive tendencies - fear-based beliefs that govern leaders unconsciously. Some comply, driven by a need to be liked. Others protect, clinging to superiority or distance. Still others control, seeking perfection and dominance. These tendencies can yield short-term results -controlling leaders often “get things done” and complying leaders are often liked - but they come at a cost: brittle cultures, burnout, avoidance of hard truths. They don’t leave space for vulnerability, humility, standing up for what’s right, selflessness.

The most effective leaders, research shows, are those who know their tendencies, understand their origins, and consciously manage them. As one participant put it, vulnerability is finally being recognised not as weakness but as courage.

A universal pattern

What about cultural context? Would a “human-centred” style resonate differently in Shanghai than in Sydney? Surprisingly, studies suggest not. Across continents, from Asia to Europe to the Americas, the traits associated with human-centred leadership - self-awareness, humility, curiosity, courage - correlate strongly with both perceived effectiveness and business performance. It is a reminder that while organisational cultures differ, the underlying human condition does not. Everywhere, people respond to leaders who are authentic, adaptive, and relational.

From theory to practice

Grand ideas beg practical questions. How, participants asked, do you actually help leaders shift from compliance, protection, or control into a more expansive mode? Rissanen’s advice was pragmatic. Start by being clear on the why: what is the purpose of your leadership development? Then the what: which capabilities or inner capacities are you trying to cultivate? And finally, the who: do your leaders actually want to develop? Adults, after all, learn only if they are willing.

She suggested a blend of approaches: assessment tools paired with coaching, ongoing feedback loops, structured opportunities for reflection, and simple practices like journaling or dialogue.

Organisations must also examine their cultures: do they truly allow for risk-taking, feedback, curiosity and constructive challenge, or do they punish it in subtle ways? Is it ok for people to test and correct behaviour? And perhaps most importantly, development must move beyond the individual to the collective. “Changing one person will not shift the dial,” she cautioned.

A pause in the noise

As the session drew to a close, the discussion returned to the value of pause. Leadership, several participants reflected, requires space to reflect, to slow down in order to go fast. In an age of relentless acceleration, carving out time for stillness may be the most radical act of all.

Human-centred leadership, then, is not a slogan or a competency framework. It is a recognition that leaders cannot hope to transform their organisations without transforming themselves. It is a wager that self-awareness and courage are not luxuries but prerequisites. And it is, perhaps, a fragile hope - that amid the noise of quarterly earnings and technological disruption, executives might dare to look inward, and in doing so, find the capacity to lead outward.