"Influencer": Moral Values, Human Impact

In the book “Influencer” by Patterson et al, there is a chapter entitled “Make the Undesirable Desirable.”  The authors include subheadings such as “make pain pleasurable”, “create new experiences”, “engage in moral thinking”,  “spotlight human consequences.”  At the heart of this chapter is the idea that behavior change must be tied to a deeply rooted sense of self and personal values (morals), and must acknowledge and support the innate value and humanity of other people. The example of the Delancey House is again given, where former behaviors of “ratting” are reframed as helping others be successful and as something that we do to help one another.  When we are looking to motivate others, we must analyze the desired behavior and place it in a context with clear, shared value-associations.  When I tell my employees “I know that you work hard to serve the most delicious food to our patients, because excellence and hospitality is how we support the mission of this hospital”, I am calling on shared values of excellence, I am highlighting a positive self-perception of expertise in food preparation, and I am connecting it to the larger mission of the hospital.  To oppose this would in essence be to reject personal expertise and a desire for excellence, to instead embrace mediocrity.  The reality may be that we are starting with mediocrity, but the push toward excellence is built upon the personal value of expertise.  My challenge as a leader is to highlight specific behaviors—following recipes to increase consistent product production; timeliness and no call-ins to enhance efficiency and teamwork—and connect them with the values of my team (being an expert at preparing delicious foods).  Conversely, undesirable behaviors (lateness, sloppiness with following recipes) can be linked with what my employees do not want to be seen as (amateurs who produce mediocre food). 

The other challenge posed by this particular chapter is described as “spotlight human consequences.”  The authors cite dehumanization as the root cause for treating other people badly.  That is, when we view other people—our patients, our customers, our peers—as somehow less than human, as unworthy or even as evil, it becomes very easy to mistreat or neglect them.  When people are instead numbers on a spreadsheet, room numbers, diagnoses, or items on a checklist, it is easy to justify neglect or abuse.  In this section, the authors specifically encourage story telling rather than (or in conjunction with) aggregation of numbers to motivate behavior change.  A story puts a face on the problem, humanizes the scenario under discussion and places unique value on the associated behavior.  Whether that behavior is timely tray delivery, conscientious medication administration, thoughtful application of new technology, or decisions about mitigating construction impacts, when we are thinking about the real-life human beings who will be impacted, our behaviors are different:  we are more likely to be kind and thoughtfully thorough.  Getting the diabetic in room 201 her meds and meals is very different from “making sure Mrs Jenny Smith in room 201 gets her medications on time and gets some help with her lunch tray.”

I once had a pastor who started most of his sermons with the phrase—directed at all of us sitting in the pews—“people God dearly loves.”  I love this phrase.  When I look at the person next to me, the person with whom I’m interacting or communicating as a person whom God dearly loves, that changes my perspective and changes my behavior toward them.  Paul uses the phrase “brother for whom Christ died” and the impact is the same:  each person we interact with is created by God, a person for whom Christ was willing to suffer and die, a person whom God dearly loves.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25 – 37), Jesus combines story-telling, humanizing and discussions of morality.  Jesus was asked by an “expert in the law” “what must I do to be saved?”  In essence, the individual was seeking to establish what behaviors are needed for salvation and (apparently) to justify himself; he was asking for clarification and confirmation that his behaviors aligned with righteousness.  Jesus referred the man back to God’s Law, where the man was able to recite the command to love God and love our neighbor—a “by the book” kind of answer, stripped of a human element.  The man’s follow up question was one looking for that human element—“who is my neighbor?”  The man may have been looking for a simple answer, “your neighbor is geographically the person nearest to you, your immediate family and your closest circle of friends.”  What a limited answer with limited impact that would have been; it would likely have confirmed the man’s belief in his own existing righteousness, it would have confirmed the status quo.  Instead, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, a story brief in length and short on details but powerful in its conveyance of a moral message and humanization of “the other.”  While no one in the story has a name, the story contains sufficient detail to grab hold of audience members on a personal level—very likely there were Priests, Levites and Samaritans or other outcasts and foreigners present in the crowd.

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead.  Two members high in the Jewish religious and social order chose to walk by the injured man; to not just ignore his plight but to cross over to the other side of the road to avoid being made unclean.  The third passerby, the Samaritan—a member of a despised and rejected ethnic and social group—took pity on the injured man.  His feeling of pity was followed by specific actions:  he cared for the man’s wounds, loaded him on his own donkey, took him to an inn and paid for further care.  The discussion between Jesus and the teacher of the law continued, where it was made clear that love for one’s neighbor is a matter of proximity, awareness, need and compassionate action:  anyone who needs our help becomes our neighbor.  The answer to the man’s question about salvation and righteousness became a discussion about desired behaviors, loving one’s neighbor; it further became a simple but powerful story which put a human face on the desired behavior of neighborly love and compassion. 

Perpetual disclaimer:  nope, I’m not saying that the Bible is simply an instruction book for human righteousness; nope, I’m not saying that Jesus was just interested in us “being nice”; nope, I’m not saying that we should read the Bible and hear Jesus’ words as some divine self-help narrative.

That said, I do believe that there is timeless and profound wisdom and righteousness to be found in God’s word.  When we read secular management text, when we learn leadership theory or look to apply specific strategies to secular work environments, our wisdom and our wise application can be enhanced through God’s word.  Or rather, God's word is the source of all wisdom and by studying both, we are reinforcing ourselves with God's wisdom and ways. The principles of aligning behavior with moral truths while focusing on the essential humanity, person-hood and individuality of each person is something that Jesus consistently did; and He chose to use the powerful strategy of story-telling.  Tying desirable human behaviors to a human desire for righteousness and self-justification could potentially be manipulative and even unethical—I’m sure the mob and gangs motivate people through shared values and desire for perceived rightness.  But when I align myself with the righteousness of God, when the values I seek to both emulate and inspire come from God and are taught clearly by my Lord and Savior, I can be confident that I will neither stray nor lead others astray.  

1)      What is the mission and vision of your organization?  What values naturally lead to the attainment of that mission and vision?   What behaviors support those values?  How can you help your people see the connection between their personal values and specific desirable behaviors, and then also the connection of those values and behaviors to the larger organization?

2)      Are there any values or behaviors encouraged in your organization that actually do not sit well with your values as a Christian?  Do they seem immoral or shallow and disingenuous?  Are you in a position to adjust the focus of your organization; or are you in a position to help people you lead align with moral behaviors that at least do not oppose organizational goals?

3)      Consider the Parable of the Good Samaritan; who is your neighbor at work and how can you show God’s love to them?