Work That’s Worth Being Human

Author’s Note: This is not a strategy. Not a framework. It’s a personal truth, shaped by years of listening, leading, and longing for something better. This is my vision for what work—and leadership—can become, if we choose to see each other as human first.

Seeing each other as humans means seeing the entire being.

We Know Something’s Off

Something within us knows. We feel the dissonance. We sense the quiet ache—a hollow in the chest after yet another meeting where we spoke and were not heard.

In business, this ache hides in plain sight. A conversation with your boss. You share concerns, insights. He nods, thanks you, promises action. For a moment, you believe him. But nothing changes. Or worse, the opposite does. An email arrives. A decision stripped from your hands. Others step in, steering outcomes that make little sense.

You were heard. But not seen. Not valued.

So you ache. Quietly. You wonder if this is just how it is. You long, quietly, for something different. Something more human.

The Systems Meant to Hold Us Are Now Hurting Us

Workplaces. Healthcare. Education. Governance. Even family. All the systems meant to uplift us are faltering. They ask more. Give less. They organize, but rarely connect. They demand, but rarely nourish.

We live inside these systems. Move through them every day. We sense their misalignment. But we don’t know what else is possible.

The world keeps spinning faster. Louder. And inside, we wonder: what is the point?

Separation Is Our History—But It Doesn’t Have to Be Our Future

This isn’t just a modern crisis. It’s centuries in the making.

We once lived in communion with the land, with each other. Then came farming. Settling. Ownership. Trade. We gained control—but lost connection. With nature. With each other. With self.

Separation became our way of life.

Nations. Classes. Roles. Ideologies. Bank accounts. Even now, as we automate and accelerate, we are still building systems of separation.

Across the world, hope is shrinking. In a 2024 Gallup survey, just 16% of Americans expressed optimism for the future. Seventy percent reported financial anxiety. In the EU, life satisfaction is falling. More and more people feel they have no agency. No choice.

And when we stop believing in choice, we stop believing in change. We drift into helplessness. Into numbness.

But choice still exists. And with it, the possibility of remembering who we are.

We Can Still Choose Differently

I hear it more often now. A whisper turning into a call. A quiet rising: for alignment, for pause, for authenticity.

We don’t have to wait for permission. Not from a boss. Not from a government. Not from culture. The shift begins inside. With one honest moment of choosing different.

The beauty is this: we created the world we live in. That means we can reimagine it, too.

So I ask: what could we choose instead?

Human-Centric Leadership: Seeing, Understanding, Valuing

Let’s start here. Let’s see each other. Understand each other. Value each other.

Human-centric leadership is not a model. It’s a way of being. A way of relating. It begins when we see the person—not the role, not the output, not the skillset.

To see someone is to know they carry emotions, stories, expectations, doubts, fears. It is to understand their behavior in the context of their life—not just their job. When we do this, something shifts. We begin to lead differently. Not perfectly. But humanly.

At the start, I spoke of a meeting. An employee shared ideas. Was thanked. And then ignored. This happens every day. It is soul-crushing. Because the message beneath it is: you don’t matter.

Human-centric leadership is not about saying yes to everything. We’re adults. We understand complexity. But we crave honesty. We crave being seen.

It’s more human to say, "I don’t see a future for you here," than to nod and do nothing.

To lead this way takes courage. It takes time. It takes skill. It takes a willingness to pause and see the person before you.

Seeing the Person

Seeing goes beyond demographics. Beyond resumes. It means noticing the hope behind a question. The fear beneath silence. The hunger for meaning behind a mistake.

We cannot lead what we do not see.

Understanding Their Context

Understanding means listening without fixing. It means taking what we see and asking: what does this mean for how I lead? How I decide? How I respond?

It is slow work. And it is sacred work.

Valuing Through Action

To value someone is not to say it. It’s to show it. Through our policies. Our feedback. Our culture. Our timing. Our choices. Human-centric leadership turns insight into practice.

It shapes experiences around the humans who live them.

What Makes This So Hard (And So Necessary)

Let’s be honest. This path is not easy. Here’s why:

1. Time

It takes time to see someone. To hear their story. To build trust. And time is the one thing we’re told we don’t have.

But we do. If we choose to take it.

2. Speed

We want fast answers. Clean solutions. But humans aren’t efficient. We are messy. Meaning takes time to unfold.

We have to be okay with that.

3. Skill

Most of us don’t know how to see people. Not really. We don’t know the questions. We weren’t taught how to listen without solving.

It’s okay not to know. But we must be willing to learn.

4. Courage

This kind of leadership is vulnerable. It breaks from tradition. It challenges norms.

It says: I choose people, even when it's hard. Especially when it’s hard.

If We Are Not Human, Then What Are We?

This is not just a call for different leadership. It is a call for a different way of being.

If we are not human—feeling, choosing, connecting—then what are we?

I believe we still remember. And I believe we can return—not to what we were, but to who we’ve always been beneath the noise.

Let’s make work that’s worth being human.

From Swanny with Love