Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People

by Donna Hicks Ph.D

Overview

Winner of the 2019 PROSE award in the Business, Management and Finance category

What every leader needs to know about dignity and how to create a culture in which everyone thrives

“With engaging intelligence, Hicks makes a lucid case for the importance of acknowledging a person’s worth within organizations and businesses. . . . For anyone wanting to better understand how to bring about the best in themselves and those around them.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe
This landmark book from an expert in dignity studies explores the essential but underrecognized role of dignity as part of good leadership. Extending the reach of her award‑winning book Dignity: Its Essential Role inResolving Conflict, Donna Hicks now contributes a specific, practical guide to achieving a culture of dignity.
           
Most people know very little about dignity, the author has found, and when leaders fail to respect the dignity of others, conflict and distrust ensue. Hicks highlights three components of leading with dignity: what one must know in order to honor dignity and avoid violating it; what one must do to lead with dignity; and how one can create a culture of dignity in any organization, whether corporate, religious, governmental, healthcare, or beyond. Brimming with key research findings, real‑life case studies, and workable recommendations, this book fills an important gap in our understanding of how best to be together in a conflict‑ridden world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300248456
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	10/08/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	96,015
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Donna Hicks, Ph.D. is an associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. As a conflict resolution specialist, she has facilitated diplomatic efforts in the Middle East and other high‑conflict regions and conducted numerous training seminars worldwide.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

Part I What You Need to Know to Lead with Dignity

1 How to Honor Dignity 15

2 How to Avoid Violating Dignity 28

3 Dignity's Depth and Breadth 38

4 Leadership and Human Development: What Is the Connection? 46

5 How to Educate Future Leaders about Dignity 58

Part II What You Need to Do to Lead with Dignity

6 Demonstrate and Encourage Lifelong Learning and Development 73

7 Set the Tone: Make It Safe to Be Vulnerable 83

8 Cultivate Trust 93

9 Activate Empathy 100

10 Head to the Balcony 108

11 Take Responsibility 116

Part III Creating a Culture of Dignity

12 Advocate for Dignity Education 127

13 Implement a Dignity Education Program for Everyone 137

14 Assess Dignity Strengths and Weaknesses 145

15 Address Lingering Wounds to Dignity 154

16 Resolve Current and Future Conflicts with Dignity 163

17 The Dignity Pledge 175

18 Normalize Dignity Learning and Practice 183

19 Humanity Ascending: The Rewards of Leading with Dignity 187

Notes 193

Bibliography 201

Index 207

Editorial Reviews

With engaging intelligence, Hicks makes a lucid case for the importance of acknowledging a person’s worth within organizations and businesses. It’s a useful book, not only for managers and CEOs, but for anyone wanting to better understand how to bring about the best in themselves and those around them.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe

“[The Chapters] combine excellent, contemporary real-life case studies with the author’s extensive research and personal experiences to present an insightful and unique approach to organizational leadership and the strategic creation of an organizational culture. . . . In an era in which personal worth no longer seems of importance, at whatever level, to global leaders, this book is a timely addition to leadership studies.”—S. R. Kahn, Choice

Winner of the 2019 PROSE awards, Business, Management and Finance category

“Leading with Dignity conveys a simple, but powerful message: people want to be treated well, and when they are, it brings out the best in them.”—Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus and The Power of Positive Leadership

“This ‘how-to’ sparks the scaling of dignity within and across us to strengthen human and social capacity. A gift to give and get.”—Dana Born, co-director of the Center for Public Leadership, Harvard University

“Nothing short of a landmark publication that will change and influence the public conversation on how we organize and manage.”—Michael Pirson, Fordham University

“Donna Hicks articulates for business leaders not only a grand concept but also a practical framework for strengthening corporate culture by recognizing and promoting the inherent value in each employee.”—Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck & Co., Inc.

“There has never been a more important time for dignity to be recognized as the key to outstanding institutional, organizational, and community leadership. This book offers a practical and empowering roadmap showing leaders how to build, strengthen, and energize their organizations by cultivating the dignity of all people.”—Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D., Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
 
“Corporate codes of ethics list treating people with dignity as a core value. Hicks’s book Leading with Dignity brilliantly explains its meaning through practical steps resulting in an ethical culture.”—W. Michael Hoffman, executive director, Center for Business Ethics, Bentley University
 
“This important book speaks directly to leadership and reminds all of us in organizational leadership roles how vital it is to create cultures where the concept of dignity is both understood and embraced. Dignity in practice truly begins at the top!”—Jeanette Clough, president and CEO, Mount Auburn Hospital

From the Publisher