chief executive officer
Gary Burnison is CEO of Korn Ferry and the author of Leadership U: Accelerating Through the Crisis Curve.
When your morning commute is from your bedroom to the kitchen table, there’s no separating home from work. It’s hard not to bring your personal life into the office when it’s on Zoom. And it’s impossible to shut your emotions out during your work time when you’re also stealing precious minutes to manage your family, health and other personal priorities.
This is as true for leaders as it is for anyone. Yet, until now, many leaders have believed they needed to split their personality, leaving their emotions at home and bringing only their rational, stoic selves to work. But this isn’t good for employees — or the bottom line.
When leaders become radically human —showing their authentic selves, being vulnerable and feeling empathy for others — that’s where connections happen. It allows employees to know that they truly matter, that what they do makes a difference. As employee engagement grows, so does productivity — and the organization’s success.
But what does it take to become a radically human leader? You can start with these 5 steps.
Every day is a journey. Along the way, you can take strides toward becoming a more empathic, effective and radically human leader.
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