A Reminder of How Humanity Can Be.
By: The Forward
Tags: India, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Writing

For those working at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai this was not the case in 2008. They excelled, respected and enjoyed their work. The leadership in this hotel had fostered cultural norms to ensure employees would always place the guests first — even above profits, and were rewarded for doing so. In fact, instead of recruiting top business school graduates to fill positions, they hired from second tier schools. They noticed those from the ‘lower’ pedigree treated guests better. So instead of prioritizing grade point averages and degrees they choose to value respect and empathy in the hearts and minds of candidates.

So you can imagine a culture being built on such principles might just work better together. Maybe even have a lighter overall feeling and offer more purpose to their people’s work. This type of foundation breeds a higher chance of success because people are there for the feeling more than the check.

Cultivating a mutual respect between employee and employer breeds trust in doing what’s right for the culture. Micro-managing and all the negative types leadership qualities are no longer needed because the workers feel empowered and respected. It’s like adding water to a hot cup of coffee. Just a little water will cool it off just right, but if you keep adding more water not only will the coffee get cold it’ll also dilute and there goes that taste you were hoping for. Culture works similarly.

An unfortunate event in 2008 shed positive light on how a companies culture can serve humanity in a way that extends beyond simple duty. A terrorist attack of 10 gunmen unfolded in Mumbai taking the lives of 161 people at the Taj Hotel. Fire was set to the dome above, sadly killing the general managers wife and two sons — who lived on the sixth floor of the hotel . But the GM continued working on saving guests from the attack, escorting them to safety.

But this wasn’t a singular story of heroism. In fact, dozens of employees took similar action.

Employees, at all levels of responsibility within the hotel, who knew the building inside-out prioritized the safety of the people staying there. Imagine kitchen staff forming a human wall around guests, sacrificing their lives to assist in their escape.

Selfless acts of moral and ethical behavior were the response in a culture setting where it’s employees were regularly asked to prioritize guests over the needs of the company, and were rewarded for doing so.

Compare this to some juggernaut financial companies such as Citi Bank or Goldman Sachs who have continually been riddled in scandal. Who have “leaders” who say things like, “If you think I’m going to be your mentor and give you career advice, you’re wrong — I’m here to priorize revenue, net income and expenses" — said by a managing director who was just coming into Citi in 2011. How might that make you feel working in such a culture? Where you’re expendable while fighting against sharks who only know blood.

This type of selfish culture doesn’t breed anything good for humanity, and then those same “leaders” wonder why rogue insider trading scandals occur. It’s because the company culture set selfishness as it’s standard. Simple as that.

In a time such as this, we need more people acting with kindness and building community — not furthering divide. Humanity is in need of a glimmer of hope and truth will help that shine through. We must act with respect, civility, understanding and curiosity instead of judgement, disregard and arrogance.

The way forward will require this from all of us.

By Christopher Holwell

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Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. — Rumi

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