Make Work Make Sense: The Real Job of Real Leaders

Employees today are more disengaged than ever. Not because they are lazy or uncommitted, but because work has become more complex, more ambiguous, and more emotionally taxing. Research shows that uncertainty is one of the biggest drivers of stress at work. People don’t leave organisations because they don’t care; they leave because they can’t understand what is expected of them, why decisions are being made, or how their work contributes to a bigger purpose.

When employees feel unclear about priorities, confused about leadership decisions, or disconnected from purpose, they naturally withdraw. Disengagement is often not a problem of effort; it is a problem of interpretation.

That is why human-centred leadership is being recognised as a key solution. Organisations are realising that leadership is not just about strategy or performance management, it is about how leaders help people make sense of the work and the world around them.

Human-centred leadership is not merely a set of kind behaviours. It is a way of leading that creates clarity, builds trust, and reduces uncertainty. But why does it work?

Why Sensemaking Matters

The reason human-centred leadership is effective is that it supports sensemaking. Karl Weick, the scholar most associated with sensemaking, explains that sensemaking is the way people create their reality through interpretation – the conversations and behavioural cues of those around them. In organisational life, this sensemaking is a shared social process. We create meaning through conversations, narratives, and the cues leaders provide.

So human-centred leadership works because it helps people build a shared interpretation of:

what is happening,
why it matters,
and what comes next.

EQ = Human Centred-Leadership = Sensemaking

A crucial point is that sensemaking is not intellectual. It is emotional, relational, and interpretive. This is why emotional intelligence is often the vehicle through which sensemaking happens.

Leaders with high emotional intelligence can read the room, notice confusion, and respond to emotional cues. They recognise when people are unsure or anxious, and they adjust their communication accordingly. In short, they create the conditions for sensemaking to happen.

Without emotional intelligence, communications will never be sensemaking. Leaders need EQ to understand the sensemaking of their team and provide the meaning to make sense of what we do.

Four sensemaking behaviours of human-centred leaders

Here are four behaviours that human-centred leaders use to build clarity, trust, and engagement.

They explain their sensemaking

People can tolerate difficult decisions if they understand the reasoning (or sensemaking process). When leaders only communicate outcomes, teams are forced to fill the gaps with their own interpretations, often based on fear or gossip.

Human-centred leaders share context, trade-offs, and thinking. They make the reasoning a shared and visible process, even when the outcome is uncomfortable.

Practical tip:
After major decisions, send a short message that clearly outlines:

what changed,
why it changed,
what alternatives were considered,
what is still unknown.

This isn’t over-sharing, it’s sensemaking.

They name uncertainty and model interpretation

Uncertainty isn’t a sign of weak leadership; it’s part of organisational life. Pretending that all answers exist breeds confusion and mistrust.

Human-centred leaders call out what is unknown and share their interpretation of the situation. They invite input and acknowledge that meaning is co-created.

Practical tip:
Use language like:

“Here’s what we know…”
“Here’s what we don’t know…”
“Here’s what we’re watching…”
“Here’s what we believe is likely… and why.”

This helps people feel included in interpretation, not excluded from it.

They connect work to purpose and priorities

Meaning is created when people can connect daily tasks to broader impact. Leaders who simply assign tasks without linking them to organisational outcomes risk creating a transactional culture, work becomes something people do, not something they believe in.

Human-centred leaders regularly link work to:

organisational mission,
customer impact,
strategic outcomes,
team values.

Practical tip:
Make “why” a regular part of team check-ins:

Start meetings with a short reminder of purpose.
End with a recap of how today’s work contributes to bigger goals.

They make feedback a sense-making tool

Feedback is often reduced to performance management. Human-centred leaders use feedback to help people understand how their work is perceived and why it matters. Feedback becomes a tool for orientation, not just evaluation.

Practical tip:
When giving feedback, always anchor it in meaning:

“This matters because…”
“This affects the team by…”
“If we adjust this, we can…”

This builds trust and engagement because people understand the impact of their work.

What human-centred leadership requires

Sensemaking leadership isn’t easy. It requires leaders to be:

comfortable with ambiguity,
transparent about trade-offs,
intentional in communication.

It also requires humility, meaning is co-created, not dictated. Leaders who listen, interpret, and co-construct understanding with their teams build deeper trust than those who merely instruct.

Human-centred leaders are meaning-makers

Disengagement is often not a problem of motivation, but of interpretation. When work doesn’t make sense, people withdraw.

Human-centred leadership is a powerful solution because it helps people interpret complexity, connect to purpose, and act with confidence. It does this through sensemaking, delivered through emotional intelligence.

In an increasingly complex world, the most important leadership skill may not be empathy alone, it may be the ability to help people understand what is happening, why it matters, and what comes next.

Want to lead with clarity, connection, and confidence?

Join Ashorne Hill’s Leading with EQ Skill Mastery Workshop to build the emotional intelligence and sensemaking skills that keep teams engaged and resilient.

Download here or contact Ashorne Hill for more information or bespoke leadership support.

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Kalindi Hawkins

Kalindi Hawkins works in research and strategy at Ashorne Advantage, where they focus on bringing real-world insight and cutting edge science into the world of L&D. With a background in curriculum development and research, she is passionate about translating complex information into skill and leadership development.