10 Human-Centered Leadership Principles

10 Human-Centered Leadership Principles

1. Ask for forgiveness, not permission

Innovation rarely starts with approval.
Build what you believe in — and deal with the politics later.
You will be remembered for the rules you break.

2. Build teams first, then products

Good products are built by healthy teams.
Invest in trust, care, and clarity — and the product will follow.

3. People and interactions over processes and tools

Stolen from Agile, and still true.
Tools are only as good as the humans using them.
Build relationships before systems.

4. Find a way — or build one

Constraints don’t stop creativity.
They shape it.
Be scrappy. Be resourceful. Be relentless.

5. Never build what is asked

Dig deeper.
Understand the real need.
Then build what actually matters.

6. Less talking, more building

Endless alignment leads nowhere.
Create momentum by making things.
Then talk about what’s real.

7. Live off the land

Use what you have, don’t wait for ideal conditions.
Work with the terrain, not against it.
It takes knowledge, humility, and creativity.
But that’s how great work gets done.

8. Everyone is a designer

Design is not a job title — it’s a mindset.
Everyone on the team shapes the experience.
So give them the tools, the trust, and the invitation to contribute.

9. Good management is as little management as possible.

The best leadership is invisible.
Create clarity, then get out of the way. People want clarity not transparency.
Support, don’t control.
Unblock, don’t bottleneck.

10. We all have wings, but some of us don’t know why

There’s magic in everyone.
Part of leadership is reminding people they can fly —
even if they’ve forgotten how..

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