Humanity in Leadership

I recently completed a drama series entitled, Designated Survivor: 60 Days, a 2019 South Korean television series based on the 2016–2019 American television series Designated Survivor starring Kiefer Sutherland.

In the drama, the Minister of Environment was forced to assume the role of an Acting President of the country for 60 days following the death of the President and many high ranking officials after a bomb blasted the National Assembly Building during an official gathering. The series takes you through a journey of how the Minister of Environment who has little ambition in being a politician turned into a National Leader. All throughout, he exhibited humanity in leadership.

Humanity in leadership has been discussed over the years particularly in these recent years; or more so during this pandemic season, it reveals more in weight the need for human values in leadership. Many books, articles or posts have been written and shared about leadership evolving from being a 'Boss' to a 'Leader'. There have been many versions of the 'Boss vs Leader' post being shared around and they all show one thing in common. A true leader is one who shows humanity.

As leaders of any kind, regardless of our position in the organisation or nation, leaders are well regarded if they exhibit humility, kindness, compassion, empathy, collaboration with the people they work with. Why? Because leadership is all about the people.

We love to work with leaders who treat their people as human beings with emotions and views/thoughts that could be different from them. We have no reservation working with leaders who value us as human beings with ups and downs in our lives and that we may not be able to perform up to optimum productivity under trying circumstances. We will always say 'Yes' to working with leaders who inspire us with shared vision and with collaborated effort as a team able to achieve great things.

But we loathed working with leaders who treat people as pure 'hired-with-salary so I can exploit your working time'. We despise leaders who only gives out instructions to the team and expect success then take the credit for the success.

All the talks and discussions about 'humanising' business - this is it. Humility, kindness, compassion, empathy, collaboration are some of the values highly regarded in a leader by employees. When we assume a leadership role, it is easy to get carried away with the position we hold. However, assuming a leadership role is the beginning of collaborating with the people of diverse background in education, ethnicity, cultures, etc thus complementing these differences in

the most effective way. Leadership is absent without the presence of people.

Humanity in leadership looks at the EQ more than the IQ aspect. We can always learn new knowledge from books but our capability to recognise and manage emotion to guide our thinking and behaviour appropriately requires awareness. This is not something we can grab out of a book easily.

There is no best formula being a leader as everyone is a leader in their own right & way. But the ultimate leader is one who leads with humanity.

Humanity in leadership that exhibits humility within us speak with compassion through empathy.