The Human Advantage: Turning human-centred leadership into commercial success

By Helen Wada

We are living in a world where AI is becoming more prevalent, the economic environment is as challenging as it has ever been, yet organisations are at the same time being asked to become more “human-centric” and focus on their people.

A shift from performance to people

The 1980s and 1990s were characterised by a relentless performance culture, where metrics and outcomes were paramount. Autocratic leadership of the past gave way to a more collaborative approach as we entered the 21^st century and we saw technology begin to disrupt the way in which we worked. Deliver more with less, work in a different way, grow the top line and reduce costs and technology was driving efficiency and growth.

Today, as we look forward to 2025 and beyond, technology is once again shifting the dial, but there is also a real shift towards people, we are moving into a new era. The Human era.  Helen Wada, a top UK top executive business coach, who has spent more than 25 years in the corporate world working across professional services and with global organisations, is witnessing firsthand the need to prioritise the essentials of being human. 

The pandemic brought this sharply into focus as we think back to how so many within all kinds of professional settings kept the wheels in motion at a time of fear and uncertainty. Medical workers, civil servants and retail workers all continued while others were told to stay at home. Since then, there has been a significant shift in focus on prioritising humanness unlike ever before, yet the commercial imperative remains – and in some instances the commercial pressures are felt even more than before the pandemic.   

Combining the need to drive growth  while building a human centric culture

One of the main challenges businesses face is finding the middle ground between human-centred initiatives and commercial goals.

In March of this year, Forrester explored what human and technical skills will matter most to B2B Marketers…”Technical and AI analytical skills will no doubt have a crucial role to play, but those in B2B customer facing roles must develop soft skills such as self-efficacy, cognitive abilities, empathy and excellent communication. These human skills are vital for building strong relationships with clients, collaborating with team members and adapting to changing market dynamics.” In addition…we need leadership skills and business acumen….The reality is we need to think about developing that whole person.”

A Gartner survey conducted in 2022 found that 90% of HR leaders believe that to succeed in today’s working environment, leaders must focus on the human aspects of leadership. However, only 29% of employees report that their leader is a human leader.

According to Helen’s philosophy, these “human skills” that sales leaders require align completely to those that she developed through her executive coach training back in 2015.  Helen had always shied away from sales, preferring to focus on her technical expertise and delivery.  Yet, after training as an executive coach, she found a new confidence in having open-ended conversations with customers, building relationships and creating insight and value through the quality of her conversation and challenge.

This got her thinking, was there a way that coaching could prove to be the bridge between human-centric leadership and commercial focus

The Harvard Business Review, along with many other reports has highlighted the role of quasi-coaches; leaders who blend coaching with their managerial roles as pivotal to successful leadership.  But can this be taken one step further.

The sales leaders of tomorrow, not only require their technical expertise, their ability to collaborate and work with AI, they require these human skills, to connect with customers, be curious and create value.

Human-centred leadership in practice

Human-centred leadership requires an approach that looks at everyone as individuals. It is important to understand a person’s aspirations, values, and what drives them. This can be difficult where development programmes are delivered at scale with a one-size-fits-all approach.  Common coaching skills can be developed, yet the outcome of a coaching conversation is always personal and unique.

By themselves adopting a coaching mindset, leaders can demystify complex issues and foster a culture that supports both personal and professional growth. Helen’s thesis asserts that human-centred and commercial cultures do not have to be separate. Instead, they can “coexist harmoniously through coaching. By developing leaders as coaches, organisations can scale human-centric practices, as well as provide the skills required to foster commercial relationships, where connection, curiosity, challenge and collaboration are at the heart of working together.”

Scaling human-centric practices

At the heart of a coaching culture is the creation of personal responsibility and accountability.  Coaching, by its very nature encourages others to grow and thrive, creating a culture of trust and responsibility for everyone to play their role in their own personal growth and development.

By starting at the top, Helen highlights that coaching provides a framework that equips leaders with the skills to understand and support their teams effectively, as well as having better conversations with their clients, whether external or internal to the business.

This is particularly relevant in professional service or partnership environments, such as accounting, law, or engineering, where technical expertise is valued for promotion to a certain point, but to reach the next level of leadership requires an ability to build a different type of relationship with customers – often exploring areas outside of their comfort zone.

Coaching and coaching skills also support individuals deal with uncertainty, as Helen explored with a fellow coach, Paul Golding in her podcast Human Wise.

The HUMAN Framework

Helen has created a framework that encapsulates the essence of human-centred leadership, based upon coaching principles

H: How you show up

U: Understand yourself and others

M: Mindset

A: Act & Adapt

N: Next steps

By working with this framework,  leaders and executives can have a practical way to embrace a way of operating that fosters a human-centric culture with a commercial lens. The best outcomes for you, your team and your business.

The benefits of investing in coaching are both qualitative and quantitative. Qualitatively, individuals understand more about themselves, they gain confidence and develop stronger leadership capabilities.

Stretching these skills into commercial conversations translates into quantitative benefits   where companies can see tangible commercial outcomes resulting from an increased confidence in the market, new relationships, new opportunities, and an uptick in revenue and profitability.  All resulting from deeper, connections and human relationships.

Helen’s approach to coaching emphasises that making the human advantage your commercial advantage is not just beneficial, but essential to business success in today’s human-centric world.