If you’ve been around my work for any length of time, you’ve probably seen me mention H.U.M.A.N. Strategies™. It’s something I reference a lot, but for those of you who may be new to the approach, I’d like to spend the next few weeks unpacking it in more detail.
How did H.U.M.A.N. Strategies™ begin?
When I was first figuring out my unique proposition for the folks I work with, the first place I went was H.U.M.A.N. Strategies.
I’d been working with a software company where strategies, processes, and frameworks were essential to our everyday work. From nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies, we have strategies for everything: increasing and decreasing markets, lead generation, sales, distribution, and more.
We have strategies for everything except for people.
To our great detriment, we look at people as expendable resources. If someone doesn’t like their job, there’s someone else who will — and will be willing to take their place. There’s always someone else in line to take the next job opening. That’s how many of us think about those resources we call humans.
The trouble with this mindset is that it’s always focused on the organization, not the person. Even the concept of HR as it was originally developed doesn’t work.
When the HR department got its start in the early 1900s, it was a relatively modern concept. As far as I’m concerned, it was also misnamed. HR was all about how an organization could protect itself from its people, not serving workers. It was all about laws, policies, rules, contracts, how to handle bad employees, how to effectively terminate staff, etc.
In the 70s and 80s, the role of the HR department started to take on other aspects like insurance and benefits. But it still focused on the mechanics of the relationship with the people, not the care, development, or cultivation of that resource of humans.
Over the last 10-15 years, human resources, as a field, has done a good job of moving away from this company-first posture.
We’ve finally begun to understand that the most expensive cost an organization has is its people — and that we should probably steward our human resources (and relationships) accordingly.
See, every organizational problem is a human problem. It always comes back to humans. Why not have a more productive, positive way to lead, manage, and engage those resources?
That’s where H.U.M.A.N. Strategies comes in.
What is H.U.M.A.N. Strategies™?
H.U.M.A.N. Strategies™ is the foundation of my work as a speaker, facilitator and Coach. It’s a dynamic approach to personal and professional leadership, communication, and effective decision-making skills.
Based on five core principles universal to any working relationship, H.U.M.A.N. Strategies seeks to empower people and organizations by tapping into the humanistic qualities that form their dreams, conquer their fears, drive their choices, inspire their actions, and connect them with the larger mission to achieve their highest potential.
Simply put, H.U.M.A.N. Strategies is all about putting humanity back into working.
The five core principles of H.U.M.A.N. Strategies are:
- Honor the person
- Understand perspectives
- Manage reactions
- Attract desired results
- Negotiate solutions
Who is H.U.M.A.N. Strategies™ for?
H.U.M.A.N. Strategies works well as a conference keynote with variable slants to serve opening, closing, and banquet slots. It has been highly-received by Fortune 500 companies, academics, nonprofits, and religious organizations alike.
From CEOs and sales teams to administrative staff and students, from middle management to executive directors — anyone looking for the strategies necessary to engage, inspire and empower themselves and others to believe anything is possible will benefit from H.U.M.A.N. Strategies.
Here’s what Kathy Buchanan, Executive Director of the Washington School Nutrition Association has to say about my approach:
“Steven’s presentation on the five H.U.M.A.N. Strategies was energetic, meaningful, and packed with wonderful information that anyone could apply to his/her relationships with others, either at work or on a personal basis.”
My favorite was when Amanda Oborne said the program was “head and shoulders above the legendary Disney Institute.”
Over the next few weeks, I’ll get into the details of each of the H.U.M.A.N. Strategies core principles. Like so many others, I’m confident you’ll find them practical, powerful, and applicable to just about every relationship you have, even beyond your work life. If you’re a leader, you need to know about H.U.M.A.N. Strategies.
Stay tuned for more!
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
