Leadership and the practice of welcoming humanity.
By Sheree Paterson
The end of year brings time to connect with our networks and reflect on the year that was. This year, these conversations have raised a deeper question for me and many others: What does it mean to lead when life and work collide?
Because they do collide. They disrupt, burst in, and refuse to stay neatly contained. Humanity doesn’t wait politely at the door while we pursue our careers. It pushes and prods. It makes calls you can’t ignore. It demands space.
Our careers and our humanity belong together, but can they live in harmony?
Perhaps the truth is this: our humanity is what might keep our careers aligned with our true north.
The messy partnership of life and leadership.
Humanity shows up in grief, illness, longing, suffering. It interrupts plans and timelines. Someone’s loss shifts the compass dial. Another’s carer role questions what’s true. One person’s path is shaped by kindness and nature, yet work demands corporate steel. My own career this year has been marked by my mother’s disease and my yearning for a more mindful life.
These interruptions may feel like weaknesses, yet they aren’t. They are reminders that we are seekers of a whole life. They make us human.
We cannot pretend our humanity is happening somewhere else. We cannot compress it or ignore it. Our task as leaders is to welcome it to invite it to the table, to create room and space for companionship, belonging, and wholeness.
Leadership.
So perhaps I am learning right now that leadership is this:
The practice of welcoming humanity so it can be seen, heard, and included.
The exercise of allowing our own and others’ whole selves to be present and trusting that we can still get the work done.
When we expand, include, and welcome, the work becomes richer. The rewards are greater.
An Invitation.
Sit down, grief. I see you.
Be here, love. I feel you.
You are welcome. Come. Don’t go.
Be here with us.
You belong here too.
Leadership is not about separating life from work. It’s about creating space for both. Accepting both. Becoming better because of both.
What would change if we led this way?
What if we stopped seeing humanity as a distraction and started seeing it as the very thing that makes leadership meaningful?
If this feels abstract, here are some ways that help me to welcome humanity into leadership.
Practices for welcoming humanity at work
Start with Presence
When life interrupts, pause and acknowledge it. A simple “I see you” can create space without overstepping.
Moments of Humanity
Begin meetings with a quick check-in: “What’s one word for how you’re arriving today?” This normalises emotion without turning the meeting into therapy.
Boundaries with Compassion
Welcoming humanity doesn’t mean abandoning structure. Clarify what support looks like: “We’ll adjust timelines where possible, and here’s what we can commit to together.”
These are not simple solutions; they are practices that help me and others I work with.
What happens when we lead this way?
I would love for you to come along, share your stories and explore this together through the Ebb & Haven community. Please get in touch.
