Empowering Leaders: Dr. Amy Wood and Mary Axelsen on Success and Global Transformation

Dr. Amy Wood and Mary Axelsen are trailblazing experts in leadership development, each bringing decades of experience to empower individuals and organisations. Dr. Wood, a Maine-based psychologist and executive coach, helps ambitious professionals achieve higher success and fulfilment through coaching, training, and her award-winning book *Life Your Way*. Meanwhile, Mary Axelsen, Founder and CEO of WeMaax Consulting, leverages her global HR expertise to drive transformative change across industries, focusing on leadership, equity, and organisational strategy. Both women are recognized thought leaders, frequently sought for their insights by media and high-level executives. Dr. Wood’s expertise in personal development is complemented by Mary’s strategic approach to business and talent growth. Together, they provide a powerful combination of personal and professional development tools. Their combined impact supports individual ambition and broad organizational success, making them pivotal figures in leadership transformation. Their unique approaches help leaders thrive in today’s fast-paced, global environment.

Can you share the inspiration behind your respective books and the key takeaways you hope readers will gain? (*Life Your Way* for Amy and future projects for Mary)

Amy wrote Life Your Way as a healthy alternative to all the quick-fix self-help hype out there – “Have, Do, and Be It All in 10 Easy Steps”, “Reinvent Yourself By Friday!” – that just makes us frustrated because the strategies are completely unreasonable.  Her book provides a manageable program for customising a meaningful, fulfilling life from the overwhelming choices and demands bombarding us all. Her message is that if you slow down, discern from the cacophony what suits you and let the rest go, you can live and work on your unique terms, accomplish goals with greater ease, and reduce stress immeasurably.  Amy’s newest book, Lawyer Like an Athlete, shows maxed-out attorneys how to be at their best with far less pressure by using peak performance strategies from sports champions. Her next book will be a joint venture with Mary on the art of achieving whole-person success through Human-Centered Leadership, so stay tuned!

What are the most common challenges faced by exceptionally driven professionals, and how does Human-Centered Leadership help overcome these obstacles through your coaching methods?

Human-Centered leadership is designed for exceptionally driven female leaders wanting to be successful – not just on the work front but in all aspects of life.  This progressive initiative is our timely response to the burnout and isolation women leaders experienced during the pandemic, resulting in an amplified call for whole-person success.  How do women leaders perform at their best without sacrificing the self-care and relationships so integral to productivity?  And how do they give the genuine care, concern, and sense of community employees are asking for in our hybrid world?  Human-Centered leadership addresses these challenges by helping women leaders replace six outdated universal leadership beliefs causing workplace dissatisfaction and dysfunction with six new beliefs that power whole-person success. Once they’ve incorporated the Human-Centered mindset, participants in our programs, and subsequently their employees, are elevated in terms of focus, energy, and motivation, and professional goals are accomplished with greater efficiency and fulfillment. All from turning antiquated leadership ideology on its head and enhancing the innate leadership skills women possess!

How do you define Human-Centered Leadership, and why do you believe it is crucial for achieving a balanced and fulfilling life in today’s fast-paced world?

Human-Centered Leadership is a progressive mindset consisting of five interacting components inherent in whole-person success: revolutionary resilience, compassion, collaboration, connection, and communication.  Revolutionary resilience is the capacity to embrace (rather than try to fight or outwit) stress as an inevitable part of life and work in a world that is moving increasingly fast. Resilience is bolstered by treating oneself and others with compassion, combining resources through collaboration, engaging others via bona fide connection, and managing disruption, conflict, and decision-making with transparent and direct communication. Human-Centered Leadership is counter to the idea of work/life balance, which implies that we must compartmentalize ourselves into professional and personal selves to be happy and healthy – an impossible goal in a world where we are accessible around the clock via technology.  What distinguishes Human-Centered leaders is they bring their full selves wherever they go and encourage others to do the same, which means everyone is viewed, regardless of professional position, as a multifaceted individual adding distinctive strengths and contributions to the mix. Aware that people are generally more stressed and disenchanted than ever before due to the ever-escalating pace and reduced face-to-face interactions of modern life, Human-Centered leaders demonstrate care for those they lead, listening to their concerns, allowing them scheduling flexibility, and providing opportunities for meaningful growth and development. With its emphasis on creating inclusion and equity for everyone, Human-Centered Leadership fosters diverse and robust succession pipelines that prime organisations for long-term success. 

How have your educational background and certifications shaped your approach to Human-Centered Leadership and coaching? (Amy: Adler University and College of Executive Coaching; Mary: Master’s in Organizational Leadership and various coaching certifications)

Amy came out of graduate school with two major takeaways that have shaped her approach to her work and Human-Centered Leadership. The first is that while children evolve in concert with each other, moving from walking and talking to other predictable developmental stages, adult development is not linear. Options for what constitutes happiness and productivity are continuously multiplying, and it is up to each individual to craft life and work circumstances that resonate, making modifications along the way as preferences and alternatives change.  Her second takeaway is that Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology, or the power of thinking to change feelings and behaviour, is the key to transformation. Amy’s coaching certification heightened her appreciation for positive psychology, which helps people get unstuck by pinpointing and galvanizing what’s going well – a refreshing contrast to clinical psychology which aims at diagnosing what’s wrong.  

From her master’s degree in organizational development, Mary took away the vital systems perspective necessary to understand how organisations define and influence leadership behavior. The wisdom is that leaders often have blind spots regarding what they’ve built or haven’t built and how that is impacting both individual and organisational performance. She also minored in women studies for her undergraduate degree which ignited her passion for gender equity. Mary learned from her coaching certification the importance of considering individual desires, strengths, and values that interplay with professional environment. Like Amy, Mary also took away from her academic background the insight that habits are transformed when thinking is transformed – and this is the groundbreaking foundation of Human-Centered Leadership.   

Can you discuss the importance of emotional intelligence in Human-Centered Leadership and the strategies you use to help clients develop this skill?

Emotional intelligence, the capacity to get along well with yourself and other people, is at the heart of Human-Centered Leadership. To boost EQ, we teach leaders to be more self-aware by capitalizing on their organic strengths, a considerably more rewarding venture than trying to improve in areas they’re not naturally wired to excel at.  We encourage self-regulation by helping leaders respond mindfully rather than react to all manner of triggers. Empathy, a big part of compassion, is acquired through the practice of patiently asking questions, actively listening, and curiously appreciating different perspectives. Relationship management is all about building a dynamic and supportive network of people with whom to collaborate, have fun, commiserate, and take the edge off.  Motivation comes down to keeping oneself and others involved and enthusiastic in the face of inevitable obstacles and fluctuating priorities.

How do you tailor your Human-Centered Leadership coaching methods to fit the unique needs and goals of your individual clients?

Our Human-Centered Leadership initiative is delivered through an intensive multi-month professional development program for highly driven women already on a leadership track. The program raises self-awareness through a comprehensive personality assessment, provides content that is immediately applied on the job and in one’s life, and a built-in process for reflection, real-time affirmation, and feedback. Understanding that all organisations, just like all people, are unique, we work closely with our client companies to customize the program to their specific pain points and desired outcomes. Similarly, we tailor our workshops, webinars, and speaking engagements to each particular audience. We know as experienced facilitators that one-size-fits-all solutions don’t produce sustainable results, so we make adjustments to match client needs.

What practical strategies do you recommend for professionals to manage stress and maintain well-being while pursuing high levels of achievement within the framework of Human-Centered Leadership?

Human-Centered leadership correlates reduced stress and enhanced well-being with releasing what can’t be controlled and zeroing in on what is controllable. One powerful strategy for taking charge within your orbit is to break goals down into ridiculously small increments so that anxiety doesn’t create inertia. For example, if your goal is to organise a messy office, set a timer for five minutes and see how much you can get done; chances are that getting started will build your momentum and you’ll want to keep going. Another great take-charge strategy is budgeting energy like money, investing in what gives back energy, withdrawing from what takes energy away, and spending energy judiciously throughout the day.  An example here would be putting energy into invigorating exercise, limiting the drain of internet surfing, and cancelling a non-mandatory meeting when energy is low.  One more strategy for acting on agency is designing personal environments to produce a grounded inner life.  For instance, making your bedroom a relaxing tech-free zone, placing inspiring quotes around your workspace, or listening to tranquil music rather than jarring news in your car.  

In your opinion, how can leaders effectively implement growth plans and transformative change in diverse organisational settings through a Human-Centered Leadership approach? 

Organisations can integrate enhanced resilience, compassion, collaboration, connection, and communication – remember, these are the building blocks of Human-Centered Leadership – by starting with an impactful group of women leaders. The transformation of ingrained problematic leadership beliefs into a whole new mindset takes significant action-based experimentation over time, in the company of like-minded peers, with steadfast coaching from Human-Centered Leadership experts.  The biggest challenge our group participants face – and this is what we ready them for – is taking Human-Centered Leadership back to their organisations after the group ends and getting leaders of all gender identities on board. To facilitate gender equity, we engage leaders of Human-Centered Leadership program participants in creating space and opportunity for women to rise to higher and higher levels.

Human-Centered Leadership is contrary to customary leadership, and so its transformational power rests on the courage and determination of those enlightened leaders wanting to disrupt the status quo to further it. 

As frequent media contributors, how do you ensure your insights on Human-Centered Leadership remain relevant and impactful in an ever-changing professional landscape?

To make sure that our Human-Centered Leadership initiative remains pertinent and productive, we keep at our forefront the reality that we must be ready to adapt in the face of constant change. As we advise the organisations we serve, we must embrace whatever is unfolding around us and rise to the occasion with open-mindedness, agility, and innovation. And the key here is to pay attention not just to general trends, but our interactions with clients, the whole individuals we are dedicated to furthering. After all, to respond less humanely would catapult us back into the restrictive, outmoded leadership beliefs we are committed to overcoming.  

What future trends do you foresee in executive coaching and Human-Centered Leadership development, and how are you preparing to address these emerging needs in your practices?

The sense of overwhelm, lack of control, and disconnection people are experiencing today is nothing compared to where we are headed. As technology advances and options accelerate further, our society will become even more rushed, stressful, disorienting, and dehumanizing. As the associated need for calm and grounded leadership amid the storm heightens, we anticipate that Human-Centered Leadership principles will be steadily more embraced. 

Another trend is that Baby Boomers are exiting the workforce in droves, and unprepared companies are scrambling to replace them. Human-Centered Leadership is helping out here by accelerating the development of high-performing women leaders so they can fill those positions the Baby Boomers are leaving behind.