S7 E9: How to Become a People-Centric Leader with Vanessa Bragg

In this episode of The Inspire Podcast, Bart welcomes Vanessa Bragg, Leadership Coach and consultant at The Humphrey Group to talk about why and how you should be a people centric leader. Vanessa shares the story of her own career transformation and the profound impact that people-focused leadership has had on her growth. She unpacks what it means to be a people-centric leader, why this mindset is more essential than ever, and how you can begin to model this approach in your own leadership. From shifting your style from telling to coaching, to showing up with authentic presence and using language that draws out the best in others, Vanessa offers both heartfelt insights and practical strategies. Her stories, examples, and actionable tools will inspire you to connect more deeply with your team, foster meaningful engagement, and drive results through human-centered leadership. Show Notes 00:25 Show intro 00:59 Introducing Vanessa Bragg 01:14 Bart runs through Vanessa's background 01:55 Introducing people-centric leadership 02:36 How Vanessa started her career 03:58 Most rapid growth with that leader 04:58 She wasn't a problem solver, she always asked me what I recommended 05:45 How did that people-centricity shape your own philosophy? 06:39 She never was the answer person 08:17 What are the challenges with people-centred approach 09:52 Even though I'm a coach I have my eye on strategy 10:33 Top-down vs people-centric leadership differences 11:00 Leaders who are lower in self-awareness are harder to shift 12:45 How much does the org affect the culture? 13:04 It has to come from the top 13:36 Buy-in from execs freed up the other leaders 14:24 In all the orgs I worked in the CSuite makes a huge difference to culture 15:27 How can leaders be present? 16:55 Connection before content 18:19 Use the language of leadership 21:06 Example of a leader who was using the wrong language 22:17 She wasn't an unkind person 23:21 Raise that self-awareness 23:39 Intent and impact 24:13 Being people-focused does not mean losing track of business goals 24:42 What does it mean to "Communicate like a Coach"? 30:09 Where can people find out more? 30:47 Outro

You can listen to S7 E9: How to Become a People-Centric Leader with Vanessa Bragg online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

S7 E9: How to Become a People-Centric Leader with Vanessa Bragg is an episode from The Inspire Podcast by The Inspire Podcast by the Humphrey Group.

This episode is 00:31:51 long.

This episode was published on Jul 22, 2025.

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