Human-Centered Leadership in Health Care

Abstract

The Human-Centered Leadership model, which is relevant for leaders at all levels in a complex health care system, embraces change from the inside out. The Human-Centered Leader (HCL) is embedded in the organization, rather than positioned above it, and recognizes the expertise and value of those who serve at the point of care. The HCL starts with a focus on self-awareness, self-compassion, self-care, and mindfulness while focusing on others through demonstration of the characteristics of an Awakener, a Connector, and an Upholder. As an Awakener, the HCL grows and cultivates the team through the development of individual growth plans and staff empowerment in decision making. The result is a professionally prepared workforce that delivers market-leading patient outcomes. The HCL, as a Connector, builds the community in the microsystem by creating a healthy work environment. Finally, as an Upholder, the HCL recognizes the humanity in others and brings out the best in them. Demonstration of sincere care for those who care for patients results in improved staff satisfaction and, in turn, exceptional patient experience. The sustainable changes resulting from Human-Centered Leadership are realized through development of Cultures of Excellence, Trust, and Caring.

Emotional intelligence

“…5 Attributes of HCL-HC in the Upholder dimension are emotional, social, and organizational awareness as well as mindful, others-oriented, and personal well-being, which are high EQ attributes. 8,9 AACN's data consistently show that units that implement HWE standards outperform those that don't use these standards. The goal is to create a work environment in which one's work is honored and respected, all voices are heard, teams communicate skillfully, and everyone feels valued.…”

Human‐centred leadership in health care: A contemporary nursing leadership theory generated via constructivist grounded theory

“…Leaders who cast a vision for nurses, their patients, their units, and their hospitals should start with themselves and pay attention to self‐compassion, self‐care and self‐awareness because each leader not only sets the example, but also sets the pace for health and well‐being of their teams. From there, the leader can naturally influence change from the inside out by operationalizing the attributes of an Awakener, Connector and Upholder (Leclerc, Kennedy, & Campis, 2020; Porter‐O'Grady & Malloch, 2018). The theory of human‐centred leadership proposes desired metrics will organically follow the movement of a human‐centred leader (see Table 3).…”

“…The emergence of a contemporary nursing leadership theory provides a F I G U R E 1 Human-centred leadership in health care: The visual framework reflects an innovative approach to leadership in health care that starts with the leader's mind, body and spirit as the locus of influence within local and larger complex systems. The human-centred leader realizes success in connecting leadership attributes of the Connector, Awakener and Upholder to cultures of excellence, caring and trust, which reflect industry-leading metrics (Leclerc et al, 2020) modern translation of many ways of being we, as nurses and nurse leaders, could only previously sense. The human-centred leadership theory gives voice to nurses in the United States and around the globe to frame their leadership style and action in a way that reflects the essence of nursing.…”

“…Human‐centred leadership in health care: The visual framework reflects an innovative approach to leadership in health care that starts with the leader’s mind, body and spirit as the locus of influence within local and larger complex systems. The human‐centred leader realizes success in connecting leadership attributes of the Connector, Awakener and Upholder to cultures of excellence, caring and trust, which reflect industry‐leading metrics (Leclerc et al., 2020)…”

The Covid Shift: working women's punctuated equilibrium

“…We posit the flux induced by the COVID-19 pandemic serves as punctuated equilibrium with conditions that are conducive to fundamental changes in how women oriented themselves to their work and the ways in which organizations respond to the needs of working mothers. Notably, we see this transformation as reciprocal, human-centered endeavor while remaining mutually beneficial to the development of the individual and the organization (Chen, 2022;Bardy, 2018;Hicks, 2016;Leclerc et al, 2020;Zawadzki, 2018). The transformation we envision, the Covid Shift, is informed by the adult and organization development theory and builds upon multiple widely adopted models.…”