When you think of leadership qualities, you always think about gaining respect, having a voice, and building relationships through communication. But an important quality that is often overlooked is human dignity.
Human Dignity refers to the belief that all humans are equal and should be valued for their beings. A leader that recognizes others as equal and treats them ethically for their work regardless of their race, class, and gender is a valuable and respected leader. Humbleness often intersects with dignity, in which regardless of a person’s status, class, and success, they still treat others equally and value them for their humanity.
Now, why is this skill necessary? Because to be a leader, is to lead by example. Once a leader treats others with dignity, other competencies will automatically follow. For example, when people feel valued and are treated with dignity, they gain respect for their leader and themselves, they improve their communication and build teamwork relationships, their morale and group dynamics improve drastically, which then creates an open environment that is full of innovation and shared goals. These are just a few examples where you can see how human dignity an essential quality in leadership.
It is not surprising that human dignity is one of the ILC model competencies. After all, it is a vital skill that a good leader should have. By embracing that belief and acting on it through making decisions, a leader is capable of not only making their work a better place but also the world a better place. Therefore, I urge everyone to build human dignity and share it with others. ILC provides great resources that help us understand human dignity through workshops and i-Programs. But here, I provided a small list that all of us can follow to build dignity and make the world a better place:
- Listen to others' concerns- it is not just the physical act of listening, but also understanding others concerns and putting yourself in their shoes to see where they came from
- Collaborate with everyone- in a group setting, make sure that everyone has contributed and shared their honest opinion regarding the project. But also, make sure that everyone’s voice matters and are important.
- Speak with respect- converse with everyone with respect and as equal the same way you want others to treat you.
- Value others- always make sure to let others know that they are important, whether it's their work, presence, or opinion, everyone is valuable and have the right to be treated as such.
Lastly, I would like to end with a quote that I think perfectly represents what our society should be,
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world ... Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere." -Eleanor Roosevelt
