book review
By Alyson Nyiri, CHRL
LEADING WITH DIGNITY: HOW TO CREATE A CULTURE THAT BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN PEOPLE
BY DONNA HICKS
YALE UP, 2018
More and more, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, employ-ees
and writers are advocating for a gentler, more
sustainable type of leadership. But what about a gen-tler,
more sustainable type of management for those of
us in the trenches? Many have argued that a more respectful and
supportive style of management can start anywhere and has a dra-matic
effect on profitability. Others have made a strong case for
followership, doing good work regardless of hierarchical status. In
all of these cases, one word appears to have been missing: dignity.
In her new book, Donna Hicks tells us that dignity is not the
same as respect. Dignity is something we are born with, it’s our
inherent value and worth. Respect, she writes, must be earned,
while dignity is something we all deserve. Now more than ever,
honouring the dignity of others is essential to building safe and
healthy connections. What was once the language of personal
therapy is now a common lexicon in business. Relationships must
thrive for businesses to be productive and prosperous.
What’s interesting in Hicks’ book is how she weaves this
language seamlessly into business vernacular. If our dignity is rec-ognized
it’s easier to access our internal power and hold steady
during times of strife and volatility. Dignity consciousness is a
deep connection to our inherent value and worth and to the vul-nerability
we share when our dignity is violated. Too many of us
have been in that situation, where our dignity was discounted or
worse, dismissed. Yet, being conscious of our own dignity can help
us to see our blind spots, express our talents, facilitate deeper con-nections
with others and build a life with purpose and meaning.
Leaders do have a role to play when it comes to dignity. Hicks
argues that leading with dignity demands we pay close attention
to the effects they have on others. We’ve seen plenty of exam-ples
of leaders who do not concern themselves with how others
are affected by their behaviour. And, we’ve seen a consistent focus
by thought leaders on how this behaviour can no longer sustain
productivity or profitability. How we get things done is as criti-cal
as why things must be done. An organization’s culture can be
the source of violations of dignity with unspoken and unaddressed
norms of acceptable treatment determining how people interact.
As HR professionals, we can help address those problems through
policies that consider the impact on the dignity of everyone in the
organization (think about who your attendance management pol-icies
target).
Hicks offers a Dignity Education program that can be imple-mented
across and with all levels within the organization. In fact,
by having various levels learn about dignity together, people begin
to recognize that when it comes to dignity, there is no hierar-chy.
Dignity, she argues, is the unifying force that brings us back
together again. Just as our organizations craft commitments to cer-tain
standards of practice (e.g. Health and Safety, Sustainability
Practices, Social Enterprise), a commitment to dignity can also be
drafted to entrench dignity-honouring values. n
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