The Future of Leadership: Humanity and Compassion

The June 2013 issue of Management Today includes, in a debate about “The Changing Face of the Leader” a paragraph that I believe holds tremendous insight: “Recently, I talked to young people from Indonesia, Brazil and China. I asked them what they expected from the leader of the future and their answers amazed me. The qualities that came up were humanity and compassion. They also wanted leaders who had the ability to put staff at the centre of what they do. They want leaders who aren’t charismatic – they want people who are humble enough to admit they don’t know all the answers.”

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Leena Nair

Leena Nair, Senior Vice President (leadership and organisational development), Unilever

For me this paragraph is a statement packed with such wisdom that I am not going to add anything more. Thoughts welcome on what leadership based around humanity and compassion will look like.

Learn the 10 core principles to create a happy and productive workplace in Henry Stewart's book, The Happy Manifesto.

Hi, we are Happy

We help organisations create happy, productive workplaces, where people feel trusted, work to their strengths and are confident with their IT software.

We want everyone to find joy in at least 80% of their work, everyday.

Our workplace solutions include:
– Workplace consultancy
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And much more. Get in touch with our friendly team to discuss your current challenge and find out how we can help you.

Henry Stewart

Henry is founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Ltd, originally set up as Happy Computers in 1987. Inspired by Ricardo Semler’s book Maverick, he has built a company which has won multiple awards for some of the best customer service in the country and being one of the UK’s best places to work.

Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential management thinkers in the world. “He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business,” explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.

His first book, Relax, was published in 2009. His second book, The Happy Manifesto, was published in 2013 and was short-listed for Business Book of the Year. His latest book, Creating Joy at Work: 501+ ideas for a happy workplace was released in 2025 and is filled with ways that people around the world have implemented workplaces based on empowerment and working to strengths.