18 February 2025
Bilbao Campus
Dignity and humanism are two concepts that converge. Two realities that feed each other and, at the same time, two qualities that should be essential in any company or organization. This was the main idea behind the talk 'Leadership with Dignity' given on February 18 at Deusto Business School by Michael Pirson, professor of Global Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship at Fordham University, and Donna Hicks, researcher at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
As part of Sustainability Week, Deusto Business School and the Vizcaína Aguirre Foundation, in collaboration with Deusto Business Alumni, organized this debate which, moderated by Professor Adela Balderas, put on the table the need to connect leadership and sustainability to achieve a better future.
Fear of the boss
According to the experts, a company or organization whose leaders act under the premises of dignity can achieve “incredible results. All people have the same desires and purposes since, they said, “we share more than what separates us, because what we want is life and to be treated with dignity”. We also have the same needs such as “to be shown empathy, recognition, understanding, inclusion and safety,” acknowledged Professors Pirson and Hicks. In fact, they pointed out that one of the biggest problems that arises in companies and organizations is that about 80% of employees do not feel safe to talk to their bosses because of “fear” of hierarchical structures. “And that's a mistake,” they said.
They added that “if a company wants to lead with dignity it must start with the management team being involved in human management.” In this regard, they believe that employees must see that you are trying and “that takes effort and being open,” Donna Hicks picked up. But, at the same time, it must be a “global” effort, which means that “all employees must also contribute to it,” said Michael Pirson. After all, “we all want to feel that what we do serves a purpose, that we are contributing to something common, and that is achieved with dignity,” admitted both experts.
