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Bringing purpose to life

The starting point: each person is a someone not a something

Business, like any other part of society, is fundamentally about people and how we think about people crucially affects everything we do. Over the last 30 years or so there has been an implicit assumption in business that:

These assumptions have led to what we refer to as a ‘double disconnect’:

  • Between business and society, when the narrow pursuit of profit maximisation as the purpose of business has resulted in growing inequality in society, exploitation of people and/or damage to the environment

But also:

  • A disconnect in the human heart where people feel unhappy and disengaged at work either because it fails to attend to their human needs, or has led them to feel they are living a ‘divided life’ where they need to behave differently at work, leaving their personal values at the door

Philosophy and faith traditions, together with empirical work in neuroscience and behavioural studies, offer a richer and more realistic view of the human person (see additional resources for some of these sources). 

The starting point for our view of people is the idea of the dignity of the human person – each person has an intrinsic value and is worthy of respect because of our shared common humanity.

Our Blueprint Framework sets out what this means in the context of business:

The central premise is that people are not seen as merely a means of business success – they are not a ‘something’ but a ‘someone’ whose dignity is respected.  

  • This includes respect for the ‘whole’ person in all their various roles in relation to a business – so goes beyond employees to customers, suppliers, investors, citizens – everyone who is affected directly or indirectly by the business
  • It therefore highlights that business is essentially a series of relationships and if the dignity of the people in these relationships is respected this will build trust between people and between business and society.
  • But it also includes setting a purpose and seeking outcomes that enable each person to reach their full potential.

Dignity

Dignity…is an attribute that we are born with – it is our inherent value and worth. …Respect is different…Respect must be earned. If I say I respect someone, it is because he or she has done something that is extraordinary – gone the extra mile to deserve my admiration…Dignity is something we all deserve, no matter what we do. It is the starting point for the way we treat one another. To clear up any confusion, I think it is imperative to respect each other’s dignity.

Donna Hicks, Leading with Dignity (p2)

So what does respecting someone’s dignity, treating each person ‘as a someone and not a something’ look like?

Donna Hicks has developed a ‘Dignity Model’ consisting of ten essential elements of dignity and ten temptations to violate dignity – these are both reproduced below: 

Ten Essential Elements of Dignity

  1. Acceptance of Identity: Approach people as being neither inferior nor superior to you; give others the freedom to express their authentic selves without fear of being negatively judged; interact without prejudice or bias, accepting that characteristics such as race, religion, gender, class, sexual orientation, age, and disability are at the core of their identities.
  2. Recognition: Validate others for their talents, hard work, thoughtfulness, and help; be generous with praise; give credit to others for their contributions, ideas, and experiences.
  3. Acknowledgment: Give people your full attention by listening, hearing, validating, and responding to their concerns and what they have been through.
  4. Inclusion: Make others feel that they belong, at all levels of relationship (family, community, organization, and nation).
  5. Safety: Put people at ease at two levels: physically, so they feel free from the possibility of bodily harm, and psychologically, so they feel from concern about being shamed or humiliated and free to speak without fear of retribution.
  6. Fairness: Treat people justly, with equality, and in an evenhanded way according to agreed-on laws and rules.
  7. Independence: Encourage people to act on their own behalf so that they feel in control of their lives and experience a sense of hope and possibility.
  8. Understanding: Believe that what others think matters; give them the chance to explain their perspectives and express their points of view; actively listen in order to understand them.
  9. Benefit of the Doubt: Treat people as if they are trustworthy; start with the premise that others have good motives and are acting with integrity.
  10. Accountability: Take responsibility for your actions; apologize if you have violated another person’s dignity; make a commitment to change hurtful behaviors

Extract from Donna Hicks: Dignity Model – Organizing Engagement

Ten Temptations to Violate Dignity

  1. Taking the Bait: Don’t take the bait. Don’t let the bad behavior of others determine your own. Restraint is the better part of dignity. Don’t justify getting even. Do not do unto others as they do unto you if it will cause harm.
  2. Saving Face: Don’t succumb to the temptation to save face. Don’t lie, cover-up, or deceive yourself. Tell the truth about what you have done.
  3. Shirking Responsibility: Don’t shirk responsibility when you have violated the dignity of others. Admit it when you make a mistake, and apologize if you hurt someone.
  4. Seeking False Dignity: Beware of the desire for external recognition in the form of approval and praise. If we depend on others alone for the validation of our worth, we are seeking false dignity. Authentic dignity resides within us. Don’t be lured by false dignity.
  5. Seeking False Security: Don’t let your need for connection and relationship compromise your own dignity. If we remain in a relationship in which our dignity is routinely violated, our desire for connection has outweighed our need to maintain our own dignity. Resist the temptation to settle for false security.
  6. Avoiding Conflict: Stand up for yourself. Don’t avoid confrontation when your dignity is violated. Take action. A violation is a signal that something in a relationship needs to change.
  7. Being the Victim: Don’t assume that you are the innocent victim in a troubled relationship. Open yourself to the idea that you might be contributing to the problem. We need to look at ourselves as others see us.
  8. Resisting Feedback: Don’t resist feedback from others. We often don’t know what we don’t know. We all have blind spots; we all unconsciously behave in undignified ways. We need to overcome our protective instincts and accept constructive criticism. Feedback gives us an opportunity to grow.
  9. Blaming and Shaming Others to Deflect Your Own Guilt: Don’t blame and shame others to deflect your own guilt. Control the urge to defend yourself by making others look bad.
  10. Engaging in False Intimacy and Demeaning Gossip: Beware of the tendency to connect by gossiping about others in a demeaning way. Being critical and judgmental of others when they are not present is harmful and undignified. If you want to create intimacy with another, speak the truth about yourself, about what is happening in your inner world, and invite the person to do the same.

Extract from Donna Hicks: Dignity Model – Organizing Engagement

Different manifestations of dignity

One part of respecting dignity is to recognise that we are beings that evolve, and that part of this is finding some meaning in our lives.

Donna Hicks talks about different manifestations of dignity – in ourselves, in others and in the world around us. She calls this the 3 Cs (connections):

  1. Connecting to our own dignity
  2. Connecting to the dignity of others
  3. Connecting to the dignity of something greater than ourselves

This 3rd can take on different interpretations such as a faith, a connection to the natural world or a purpose that contributes to the greater good – something that gives meaning to our lives.

‘..a severing of any one of these three connections is a source of emotional upheaval and suffering. If we are concerned about only our own value and worth, and we fail to see the dignity of others and the world around us, we run the risk of behaving like narcissists. If we have a connection with our own and others’ dignity, but we don’t see the need to honor the dignity of the world we inhabit or pursue a life that contributes to the greater good, then we may suffer from a lack of meaning or purpose in our lives’.

Donna Hicks, Leading with Dignity (p40-41)

The following sections discuss human nature, meaning and motivation in more detail.