In 2018, in the midst of the agile transformation of the BMW Group IT, we were deeply interested in the question of how leadership might look in an agile organization. After a workshop with representatives from all levels of the hierarchy, from the working level up to senior management, we had the idea to capture our results in the form of phrases like in the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, e.g., “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.”
I was already churning out a blog post every week at that point, and I was totally up for this challenge. In the week after this workshop, I came up with the following six theses that became known as the Manifesto for Human(e) Leadership.
Unleashing human potential
over employing human resources.
Diversity and dissent
over conformity and consensus.
Purpose and trust
over command and control.
Contributions to networks
over positions in hierarchies.
Growing leaders
over leading followers.
Courageously exploring the new
over efficiently exploiting the old.
Over the next year, I wrote a lot more content, exploring those theses in more detail and adding more aspects (including two workshop formats). To make everything easier to find and share the ideas widely, I decided to put everything together and publish it as a small book on Amazon. The German version was released in 2019 and the English version followed in 2020.
With nearly 6,000 copies sold, I’m even more committed to promoting the ideas in the Manifesto as much as possible – especially in my international community. As a result, you all now have the chance to grab your free PDF copy of this book here:
I hope you have as much fun in reading as I had in writing!
If you like the book, please tell your friends, followers, or coworkers who might be interested. Furthermore, it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review on Amazon. In case you feel like you want to return the favor, you can buy me a virtual coffee over at Ko-fi.com. And finally, you can still purchase the book on Amazon if you prefer a paperback (EN or DE).
5 Comments
Thank you!
My pleasure! Enjoy reading.
Thank you for the content. its worth reading.
Thanks a lot!
Currently reading the second edition .. cannot put the book aside. Hope the second edition is released in English soon. It is a must read for anyone leading or thinking to lead.