Connectedness: How the Best Leaders Create Authentic Human Connection in a Disconnected World

Recent studies indicate that 94% of employees are more productive when they feel connected to their colleagues and are twice as likely to stay at their jobs. So how do you create and maintain an environment of authentic human connection in the workplace? How can leaders foster better connections between their people, customers, and other collaborative organisations? 

That was the question put to members of the Thinkers50 Community at the Thinkers50 2023 Awards Gala in London’s historic Guildhall. Their responses have been curated into a new book published by Thinkers50 in partnership with Wiley, Connectedness: How the Best Leaders Create Authentic Human Connection in a Disconnected World, by Thinkers50 co-founder, Des Dearlove, and Lisa Humphries.

With a Foreword by Rita McGrath, professor at Columbia Business School, author of best-selling The End of Competitive Advantage and Seeing Around Corners, and a Thinkers50 Top 10 Ranked Thinker since 2013, Connectedness features contributions from over 30 leading management thinkers, including the 2023 Thinkers50 Award recipients, Kirstin Ferguson and Michael Bungay Stanier. 

Explains Des Dearlove, co-editor, ‘What it is to be human and to connect with other humans is uppermost in the minds of those who research, write, and speak about the future of management.’

‘Harnessing the power of connections is the way to foster trust and boost productivity’ adds co-editor Lisa Humphries, ‘Connections – building relationships – are intrinsic to good leadership.’

Connectedness serves as a practical guide for leaders and managers to improve employee retention, engagement, productivity, and well-being. Grounded in the latest peer-reviewed research, it provides a human-centric approach to the new era of fast-evolving AI technology, global environmental challenges, and the shifting nature of work.

To accelerate the latest thinking to where it can have most impact, Thinkers50 has connected with Wiley, one of the world’s largest publishers and a global leader in research and education, in a speed-to-shelf collaborative publishing initiative. 

‘In an increasingly fast-paced world, we wanted a way to get ideas into the hands of practising managers quickly. “Connectedness” is the second book in a series that offers an accelerated option for publishing thought-leadership by the world’s most influential business thinkers and delivers a timely discussion on how we can keep the human touch at the heart of business, leadership, and organisations.’ – Des Dearlove

Contributors to Connectedness: 

Foreword by Rita McGrath

Introduction by Des Dearlove and Lisa Humphries 

Michael Bungay Stanier – Thinkers50 Award Recipient

Andrew Barnes – Thinkers50 Radar

Pia Lauritzen – Thinkers50 Radar

Amanda Nimon-Peters – Thinkers50 Radar

Matt Abrahams – Author of Think Faster, Talk Smarter

Jeanette Bronée – Author of The Self-Care Mindset

Kate O’Neill – Thinkers50 Award Shortlist

Giuseppe Stigliano – Thinkers50 Radar

Hamilton Mann – Thinkers50 Radar

Stephanie LeBlanc-Godfrey – Thinkers50 Radar

Ville Satopää – Thinkers50 Radar

Kirstin Ferguson – Thinkers50 Ranking and Award Recipient

Susie Kennedy – Founder and Senior Partner, KBA Solutions

Soulaima Gourani & Thomas Roulet – Thinkers50 Radar

Constance Noonan Hadley – Thinkers50 Radar

Faisal Hoque – Thinkers50 Award Shortlist

Daniel Trabucchi & Tommaso Buganza – Thinkers50 Radar

Weslynne Ashton – Thinkers50 Radar

Martin Gonzalez – Thinkers50 Radar

Poornima Luthra – Thinkers50 Radar

Malissa Clark – Thinkers50 Radar

Ludmila Praslova – Thinkers50 Radar

Mita Mallick – Thinkers50 Radar

Neri Karra Sillaman – Thinkers50 Radar

Kai Anderson – Thinkers50 Radar

Kandi Wiens – Thinkers50 Radar

Jenny Fernandez – Thinkers50 Radar

David Lancefield – Founder, Strategy Shift

Natalie Nixon – Thinkers50 Radar

Connectedness: How the Best Leaders Create Authentic Human Connection in a Disconnected World

by Des Dearlove & Lisa Humphries

In-store date: 12 November 2024.

A Thinkers50/Wiley collaborative initiative to accelerate the publishing of thought leadership.

Also in this series:

Certain Uncertainty: Leading with Agility and Resilience in an Unpredictable World

by Des Dearlove