Time to SHINE

For obvious reasons last year, my in-person speaking schedule came to a halt after an inspiring tour of Europe.

Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, I was able to continue sharing the message of Truly Human Leadership in virtual roundtables and presentations. I was able to speak to many different audiences and was grateful for the opportunity.

In the last part of this year, I will be returning to in-person speaking engagements at a number of conferences. One of which is the SHINE Summit at Harvard in November. From their website:

Humanity has never before been faced with more rapid change in the workplace.  With this unprecedented transformation comes an incredible opportunity to re-imagine the meaning of work and to re-design the workplace, in greater support of human health and well-being.

Join us for deep explorations, provocative conversations, and research-based strategy sessions about what it means to have humane work and employment, the human impacts of work, the power of caring for employees, trust and transparency, flourishing, compassion, and happiness at work, how to redefine the people and health strategy for business, and what it means to be a healing organization today.

I’m honored to be included in this discussion and I am taking a lot of time to be thoughtful and shape my message to encourage a robust discussion.

Here are a few of my notes, including a number of statistics I regularly quote to start with a baseline of the “state of the workplace” before the pandemic. You can click through on each point to see the citations and read where I have explored the issue in greater detail on this blog:

• 88% felt like they worked for an organization that did not care for them.
• There is a 20% increase in heart attacks on Monday mornings.
• 65% of workers would give up salary increase if they could fire their boss.
• “Work” is a major cause of stress and illness; therefore, your leader has a greater impact on your health than your family doctor.
• The way we treated people at work impacts the way they treat their spouse, children and behaved in our society!
• Yet, Gallup determined that the number one source of happiness in the world is a good job, doing meaningful work with people you enjoyed!
• There seemed to be an assumption that if we could achieve peace and prosperity that we would achieve happiness. But we had this in recent years and yet we have the highest level of anxiety and depression ever and a crisis of anguish of our incoming college students.
• WHY? Because we have used people for organizational success/objectives, rather than develop leaders who saw their primary responsibility being those in their span of care.
• It’s about the organization balance of People, Purpose and Performance! Give people meaningful work where they can contribute to a greater purpose while, at the same time, performing at a level that keeps the company stable. A virtuous cycle that provides a stable living for our people while being good partners with all of our stakeholders.
• What if businesses or organizations in general could be a source of healing in the world by embracing the profound responsibility of leadership of those we have the privilege to lead? And what if our educational system’s purpose was to create leaders with a balance of human skills AND professional skills to become leaders in every part of our society? What if we were able to move from a me centric world to a we centric world where people ARE our PURPOSE?

All of these points are very familiar to those who have heard me speak, read my book or regularly read this blog. But this is the outline of my thinking as I prepare my message for the SHINE Summit, a message I hope stands out among the many dignified speakers in attendance.

I truly believe that when we teach our business/organizational leaders that their primary responsibility is to give those in their care a grounded sense of hope for the future; when we create an environment where people can bring their gifts, develop their gifts, and share their gifts so they return home each night knowing that who they are and what they do matters; and when our team members feel cared for, they will naturally care for others! The foundation of this vision for the future of work is skills centered around empathetic listening, recognition and celebration and a culture of service to others.

I believe this world is possible. I believe Truly Human Leadership is the key. And I hope the SHINE Summit is a breakthrough in thinking. The time is NOW to deliver our message and make a great change.

As I further develop my message and thoughts, I ask for your help. When this post is shared on LinkedIn and Facebook, comment and give your thoughts on this discussion. Let me hear any points you think are missing or are relevant. If you’re interested in the SHINE Summit, you can find participation information HERE.