Dignity and Worth: The Cornerstone of Healthy Human Systems

Management Associates Below the Line, Human Side of Leadership, Values

All below-the-line beliefs and biases held by leaders  influence the functioning of human systems. But few are more important than those concerning human dignity and worth.

These qualities address our basic sense of place in the world. They speak to our most fundamental right to exist. And because they are so central to human self-identity and self-conception, they are effectively non-negotiable in the workplace.

Put simply, people will never willingly work with someone who does not honor their basic dignity and worth as a human being.

You need look no further than yourself to verify the truth of this principle. How constructively would you work for a supervisor who humiliated and belittled you? Who viewed you as expendable or replaceable? Who treated you not as a person but as a tool?

Rare, indeed, is the person who would not rebel against such treatment, becoming resentful, hostile, antagonistic, cynical, apathetic, disengaged, or any of  countless other qualities corrosive to the healthy functioning of a human system.

Most of us have had a horrific supervisor or two in our career. But while true tyrants do exist, they are far less common than leaders who diminish the dignity and worth of their employees only inadvertently and accidentally.

These leaders are not bad people. They do not intentionally seek to be malicious or hurtful. Nevertheless, through the influence of outworn theories and attitudes, the weight of organizational culture, or just the never-ending press of work, they end up faltering in this most critical aspect of leadership.

We often ask participants in our workshops where they think protecting dignity and validating worth falls on the list of priorities held by their organization’s management. “Pretty low,” is the response made by many. But even more frequent is the opinion that dignity and worth don’t even make the list.

This is a sharp indictment of modern leadership. Organizations can and do, of course,  function without regard for the humanity of their employees. But the problems they face—low morale, minimal quality, mediocre service, substantial turnover—are as predictable as they are avoidable.

And while economic necessity might compel employees to stay in such a workplace,  they will give little of their energy, their creativity — little of themselves — to an organization that does not respect their fundamental humanity. And their leaders have no right to expect anything more.