Dignity a missing link

"In the journey of life, the unexpected is the compass guiding us to extraordinary destinations." – Maya Angelou

A number of years ago I bumped into one such thing. It was an article that stopped me in my tracks and spun me around several times and from that moment on I have never seen anything quite the same again. That article was by Cinne Noble, a lawyer-mediator, conflict management consultant and provider of one-on-one coaching and a range of conflict management coaching workshops worldwide. The article was about “Dignity” and that two-minute read shifted my perspective forever.

The principle of dignity refers to the intrinsic value and worth of every human being, and to words, actions, or conditions that either affirm human dignity or violate it.

The impact this article had on me, belies its simplicity. It merely introduced the idea that dignity had an essential role to play in resolving conflict and proposed several essential elements of dignity from Dr Donna Hicks, an associate at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

In a world where the level of uncertainty and chaos is rising at alarming levels, where it feels like we are losing the battle for peace, and where threats of violence seem to grow every day, I find my thoughts going back to this article on dignity. Monica Sharma, an international expert and practitioner on leadership development for sustainable and equitable change talks about dignity being a universal human value. And Donna Hicks talks about dignity as being a missing link.

In her latest book “Leading with Dignity”, Donna Hicks highlights that the depth of emotional response that is evoked with the presence or absence of dignity cannot be overstated. She contends that “when people feel that their value and worth are recognized in relationships, they experience a sense of well-being that enables them to grow and flourish.” And in contrast, when “their dignity is routinely injured, relationships are experienced as a source of pain and suffering.”

This is so important its worth repeating:

The depth of emotional response that is evoked with the presence or absence of dignity cannot be overstated.

On a quest to develop a deeper understanding of dignity and how it can serve us and how we can we tap into more of it in simple everyday ways that will transform our experiences, our relationships and our world for the better, over the next quarter, I am going to be diving deeper into exactly what dignity is and how to tap into it more easily. I will be sharing what I find as I use this new understanding of dignity as a guide to extraordinary destinations.

For now, and as a starting point, here is the list of the essential elements of dignity Cinne Noble shared in her head spinning article all those years ago.

“Some of the essential elements of dignity Hicks talks about in her book are as follows:

• Acceptance of Identity—Approach people as 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 how race, religion, gender, class, sexual orientation, age, disability, etc. are at the core of their identities. Assume they have integrity.
• Recognition—Validate others for their talents, hard work, thoughtfulness, and help; be generous with praise; give credit to others for their contributions, ideas and experience.
• Acknowledgment—Give people your full attention by listening, hearing, validating and responding to their concerns and what they have been through.
• Inclusion—Make others feel that they belong at all levels of relationship (family, community, organization, nation).
• Safety—Put people at ease at two levels: physically, where they feel free of bodily harm; and psychologically, where they feel free of concern about being shamed or humiliated, that they feel free to speak without fear of retribution.
• Fairness—Treat people justly, with equality, and in an even-handed way, according to agreed upon laws and rules.
• Independence—Empower people to act on their own behalf so that they feel in control of their lives and experience a sense of hope and possibility.
• Understanding—Believe that what others think matters; give them the chance to explain their perspectives, express their points of view; actively listen in order to understand them.
• Benefit of the Doubt—Treat people as trustworthy; start with the premise that others have good motives and are acting with integrity.
• Accountability—Take responsibility for your actions; if you have violated the dignity of another, apologize; make a commitment to change hurtful behaviors.”

References

Hicks, D. 2011, Dignity – Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict, Yale, University Press, New Haven.

Hicks, D. 2018  Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Noble, C. 2024, CINERGY – Peace Building – One Person at a Time, cinergycoaching.com.

Organizing Engagement, 2024, Dignity Model, Dignity Model – Organizing Engagement.

Sharma, M. 2017, Radical Transformational Leadership – Strategic Action for Change Agents, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley California.