The humanistic turn in management is rapidly developing in the broader international academic context, as well as in Poland, were it even has acquired an official status as a specific academic discipline. However, there is a distinct paucity of published reflections on the links between management and the humanities and the legitimacy of the separation of a humanistic and economic approach to management, can be seen as valid and important. The article aims at launching the process of filling this gap by presenting the genesis and proposing characteristics and the main leading principles of humanistic management.