Dignity! Our Golden Trait
Burbank, California; April 14, 2002; Joan Marques, MBA, Doctoral Student.
(URL: http://www.angelfire.com/id/joanmarques/PR)
I decided
long ago
Never to walk in anyone's shadow
If I fail, If I succeed
At least I lived as I believed
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
These are the
unforgettable words you can hear in any version of a song called “The Greatest
Love of All.” It’s about loving yourself. And it’s about preserving your
dignity, long after everything will be stripped from you. The art is to believe
in yourself—and that’s not always an easy task. Only when you love yourself
will you be able to love others; only when you dignify yourself will you be
able to treat others with dignity.
That dignity is a valuable trait, which should be well-maintained in people throughout their lives, is made clear if we see how many times the word surfaces when great leaders are explaining the reasons for their successes. Take Jack Welch, General Electric’s past CEO for 21 years – still very respected and “widely regarded as the best-known and perhaps most successful CEO the business world has ever known” (Evans, 2002, p. 96)… While spending a few hours with the InformationWeek community at a recently held spring conference, Welch “didn't talk much about corporate strategy, grand plans, or sweeping vision” (p. 96); and “he didn't talk much about shareholder value or working the analysts. What Jack Welch did talk about, […] was people: their inherent goodness, their potential, their intelligence, their inborn desire to achieve and excel. What employees want above all else, he said, is to have a voice, and to have their dignity.” (Evans, 2002, p. 96)
The expressed insights prove Welch to be a dignified man himself, wise as he is to realize that, “dignity does not consist of possessing honors, but in deserving them.” (Aristotle)
How hard can it be anyway, to understand that treating fellow humans with dignity will encourage them to treat you with dignity in return, which makes this a rule, as golden as the golden rule itself? For all I know, the dignity train of thought may have even been derived from the golden rule! Just look at it this way: “don’t do unto others what you don’t want to be done unto yourself”… isn’t the spirit of dignity radiating all through this affirmation?
Lauer (2002) looks at the importance of treating people with dignity from a customer’s perspective. In an article that reviews why some healthcare facilities fail and others succeed, he explains his findings as follows, “Healthcare customers are no different from anyone else. They want to be treated with dignity and respect and a caring attitude. […] When the boss cares and is willing to commit to quality customer service everyone benefits, including patients and employees. And the companies wind up on top while those that fail to inculcate the values of customer service usually fail.” (p. 36) Point made clear there!
Treating people with dignity pays off, if not on short term, definitely in the long run. Even if you have to perform an unpleasant act such as downsizing, you can manage to do that with a demonstration of heart-felt respect toward the employees that you have to let go. Hey, we’re all somewhere on that ladder! The people we meet on our way up are the ones we’ll meet again on our way down. Therefore, treating everyone properly is not just a selfless act, but entails some self-preservation as well!
Challenger (2002) explains it this way:
Mistreatment breeds mistreatment. The person most at risk for violence in the workplace is the person who has been "disrespected," especially someone whose self-esteem is low. Make sure the people you are letting go leave with their dignity in tact. Do not have security escort people back to their offices or to the door. Have security ready to respond immediately to incidents or potential violence, yes, but let people say their good-byes, dean their desks without breathing down their necks, and leave under their own steam. (p. 17)
Believe it or not, showing people respect in the way you treat them, is gratifying. “In a recent downsizing, workers were so pleased they were treated with respect, they sought out the plant manager on the way out, to thank him personally,” states Challenger (2002, p. 17). These workers obviously did so, because they realized that the abovementioned plant manager was as hurt by having to let them go, as they were for being released. What a great consolation! Here’s where Philip Massinger’s quote, “True dignity is never gained by place, and never lost when honors are withdrawn” makes all the sense in the world
Dignity may be
regarded a crucial ingredient in leadership for the new Millennium. It is best
understood by leaders with a spiritual vision; leaders who realize that today’s
workers are not just there for the money, but maybe even more for the other big
“m”-- meaning. And while we’re talking ingredients; Lauer (2002)
provides “the basic recipe for a leader” (p. 33) by enriching us with this
piece of wisdom,
“Being a leader is not easy: It takes patience, persistence and courage, as well as the ability to deal with ambiguity. It all starts with attitude. People with a positive outlook on life can accomplish just about anything. Leadership is complex. But there are some values that will never change and must be adhered to for success. These are the skill of being able to make others follow you toward clearly defined goals and treating everyone with dignity and respect”
In conclusion, it may be appropriate to state that treating others with dignity enhances our own. It is no secret that dignity and self-esteem are birds of a feather. A society where everyone treats each other with respect, is a blessed one! As Pilla (2002) states, “Our task as citizens is to work tirelessly to transform this world, to make it a community where human dignity is promoted and human rights are respected. This is the challenge.” (p. 332)
References:
Challenger,
J. (2002). Downsize with dignity. Executive excellence, 19(3), 17-18.
Evans,
B. (2002). The bottom line is people. Informationweek(881), 96.
Lauer,
C. (2002). The basic recipe for a leader. Modern Healthcare, 32(8), 33.
Lauer, C. (2002). Service
with a smile. Modern Healthcare, 32(11), 36.
Pilla, A. (2002). The church
and Democracy: The importance of religious values and institutions for our
community
and society. Vital Speeches of the Day, 68(11), 331-334.