Hamza Khan

The sun has set on the old leadership playbook—but the ghosts of paradigms past still haunt even the most forward-thinking workplaces: shareholder primacy, algorithmic management, the “The Great Man” myth, and the creed of fear and greed. We keep updating our tools without upgrading the default operating system of our organizations: the lone hero-leader, who is all too often tragically unskilled, unhealed, and unaligned with the reality of their people. Meanwhile, trust in institutions plummets, complexity outpaces command-and-control, and the most vital work is increasingly accomplished through decentralized networks. In the age ahead, we don’t need a layer of better leaders to uphold the status quo—we need fundamentally reinvented, co-creative, rehumanizing workplaces that turn peoples’ light on—and keep them on.

In this imperative and interactive Shine session, human-centered leadership expert Hamza Khan will challenge you to think bigger by hitting fast-forward on the inevitable evolution of leadership: The Great Many. It’s a radical, whole-human approach where the status of leader and follower becomes perfectly equal; hierarchies flatten, ownership diffuses, decision-making decentralizes, and a unified identity emerges—Fellowship. And it’s not just “shared leadership” with a fresh label: Fellowship draws from an eclectic but grounded interdisciplinary tradition, spanning permaculture, Indigenous Knowledges, regenerative design principles, and more, to treat organizations like living ecosystems designed for long-term flourishing. The Great Many is built on three ecosystem laws: interdependence over extraction, reciprocity over transaction, and stewardship over ownership. This is how a brighter tomorrow draws from everyone’s light—not just the select few.

You’ll leave with three imperatives for the brighter world of work: Unlearn Theory X (retire domination as the default), Relearn Theory Y (restore dignity and autonomy without burning leaders out), and Embrace Theory Z—a forgotten third way built for all people, planet, and posterity. Through guided dialogues and a closing micro-commitment ritual, you’ll practice a simple technique you can use immediately: The Light Check—a quick and intuitive method for identifying where your culture dims people’s grit, hope, and creativity, and what you’ll change to help them shine bright. 

In this session, Hamza will: 

1. Describe with precision why The Great Man era is ending and define The Great Many (“Fellowship”) as the inevitable leadership paradigm for a human-centered future. 

2. Apply The Light Check to identify where culture, metrics, meetings, systems, and incentives—are turning people’s light out—and implement at least one corrective change immediately. 

3. Use three regenerative principles—interdependence, reciprocity, and stewardship—to build shared responsibility, trust, and decentralized decision-making without chaos.