Insights
Reflections on leadership development, culture, and the inner capacities leaders cultivate to lead with presence and courage — inspiring real commitment.
Leadership is human work.
At StartHuman we explore the internal capacities leaders must develop to lead people well and shape healthy organizational culture.
We call this The StartHuman Way™:
Stand in Service™: Choose commitment over compliance
Befriend Fear™: Choose presence over protection
Sit in the Fire™: Choose Integrity over relief
These insights explore the patterns, tensions, and leadership choices that shape how people experience work.
Befriending Fear at Work (P2)
Fear doesn’t start in our thoughts—it begins in the body. Emotionally intelligent leaders learn to recognize fear through sensation, behavior, and reflection, expanding their awareness and increasing their ability to choose how they respond
The StartHuman Way™
Leadership shapes culture.
Not through values or programs, but through how leaders relate to power, fear, and vulnerability.
The StartHuman Way™ offers a different approach—one that focuses on the internal capacity required to lead and create meaningful, lasting culture.
Befriending Fear at Work (P1)
Fear has a strange reputation in our culture. We’re told strong leaders are fearless, but fear is not a flaw in the human system—it’s a survival response built into the brain. Emotionally intelligent leaders don’t eliminate fear. They change their relationship with it.
Why We Recommend Blanchard’s Management Essentials for Every Leader
Leaders and HR, L&D, and OD professionals: Mastering the basics of leadership isn’t optional—it’s transformative. Blanchard’s Management Essentials equips leaders to bring purpose, vision, and values to life, activate position agreements, and create clarity, accountability, and high-performing teams.
Why Traditional Job Descriptions Don’t Work (And What to Use Instead)
Traditional job descriptions often create compliance, not clarity. When leaders rely on static role definitions, they miss the opportunity to create real ownership, accountability, and commitment.
The Most Underused Leadership Tools in the Workplace
Purpose, vision, and values are often treated as statements on a wall. But when leaders use them intentionally, they become powerful tools for creating clarity, accountability, and commitment.
Is 360 Feedback Right for Your Leaders?
360 feedback can provide powerful insight for leaders — but only when the conditions are right. Without trust, clarity, and the capacity to receive feedback, the tool can backfire.
What If We Stopped Taking Things So Personally?
When leaders take things personally, it often signals a protective response rather than a present one. What becomes possible when we meet feedback, tension, and disagreement with curiosity instead?
“I’m Triggered”: A Call to Radical Responsibility
“I’m triggered” is often used to explain strong emotional reactions at work. But leadership requires more than naming the reaction—it requires taking responsibility for how we respond.
What Coaching Is and What It Isn’t
Leadership coaching isn’t advice, training, or consulting. At its best, coaching helps leaders develop the awareness and responsibility needed to grow their leadership capacity.
Culture Is Not What We Preach. It's What We Permit.
Organizational culture is not defined by what leaders say they value. It’s shaped by what leaders tolerate, reinforce, and allow to continue.
Why We Offer Dare to Lead™: Practicing Courage at Work
Leadership requires courage. Dare to Lead helps leaders develop the emotional skills and self-awareness needed to lead with courage, connection, and compassion.
Navigating the Feedback Dilemma: Giving Candid Feedback
Discover the transformative power of specific feedback in the world of business leadership. Explore how candid communication with your managers can pave the way for clearer guidance, stronger collaboration, and a more fulfilling leadership experience. Join us as we navigate the feedback dilemma and humanize the art of leadership.
Want to manage performance better? Repurpose the SMART methodology.
SMART goals neglect the need for shared communication and ongoing support. By reordering and revamping SMART to STRAM, we can start out on a better foot and open the door to better communication and performance.
Workplace Gossip: Why it happens and 5 things to do instead.
Eliminating gossip is a tall order, but doing so will radically improve the quality of relationships in your workplace as well as productivity, trust, and connection. Read on to learn about what gossip is and how to stop it.
How To Develop Talent: Our Top 5 Dos and Don’ts
It’s easy for leaders to make assumptions about the speed and ease with which people move from developing skills to contributing to the team. Read our 5 tips and set your team up for success.
Five Ways to Stop Bullying in the Workplace (and Beyond)
Maybe someone has been described as being “too direct” or “too honest.” Perhaps you’ve noticed someone raising their voice, slamming things, or even name calling. While this type of behavior can be extremely harmful and is prone to escalation, there are ways to stop it in its tracks and turn it into something more productive. Here are five tips on dealing with bullying in the workplace.
Three Pitfalls in Workplace Communication (and How to Avoid Them)
You’d think with all the talking and texting that we do on a daily basis, we’d be pretty good at communicating with each other. But the truth is, most of us never actually learned how to communicate and many of us have picked up some pretty bad habits along the way.