This past week the press and media have been making much of the comments made by individuals seeking the Republican presidential nomination both for and in response to US immigration policy proposals on the basis of an individual’s identified religion. Given the huge range and diversity of faith and practices in ALL religions whether Islamic or Judeo-Christian in origin, this represents a minefield of issues to navigate, legal as well as ethical.
In the Mandt system we have identified a less complex approach. Our simple approach is ALL individuals are entitled to be treated with ‘Dignity and Respect’, irrespective of age, gender, religion, sexual orientation etc…. This in and of itself does not mean that those individuals will return that dignity and respect through their use of and choices of behavior, but for us that has to be our starting point and the point that we strive to continuously return to in our interactions.
During a point in history when there is much fear over the actions of extremist factions in the world in is good to have a more simple approach that we can get behind and see as a manifestly ‘sound’ approach. There are never such simple answers to the world’s complex problems but in creating Healthy Workplace Relationships we do have a simple starting point and mantra which has been proven out repeatedly over 40 years of the Mandt System training.
What defines us is not so much the label we carry but our actions and interactions and the consequences of those for us and those around us. We can and do in all circumstances try to remember to see individuals as ‘People First’ with labels a secondary factor, which while not unimportant are not the be all and end all of what defines us.
Simon Kemp – SVP Business Development
