One of my introspective musings in recent months has been around respect and dignity and I had an epiphany, after a recent trip to Sydney, Australia:
Respect and dignity can be awarded simply by seeing the human in the other.
I realised too that I had been practising these values through my interactions with people. Whether they are a stranger or someone close to me. Whatever position they hold or no matter how society deems their occupation as lowly. It is important that I see the human first. Initially, I saw it as being kind and compassionate to another person. But actually, believing that this person should be treated with compassion stems from the knowing that they deserve and should be treated with respect and dignity.
My experiences in Sydney
I frequently got sincere greetings when I was served as a customer in Sydney by a wait staff or a staff minding the payment counter. This could manifest in warm eye-contact, small talk or simply a mindful verbal greeting and small talk. Certainly, I was also ready to interact authentically with them and see the humanity in them too. Although it usually takes as little as 2 seconds or less than a minute, I found the exchange wholesome. I felt that the person responsible for service delivery was seeing the human first, before the transaction. I felt respected and thought that by extending that regard to me, the staff also possessed a dignified presence (they are human first, too!).
It is like “namaste” operationalised:
the divine light in me, sees and honours the divine light in you.
This treatment can go a long way and can positively impact our spiritual, emotional and mental health.
Applicability to Burnout
I was reminded how in the race for time and promptness in service delivery, people end up operating like robots or treating one another at work as such. Customers who demand service delivery at cut-throat pace and unrealistic standards can also be callous and uncaring, like how they treat service staff. As a result, the focus by all parties is on the transaction. This dehumanising approach is not sustainable and leads to burnout.
Businesses and operations revolve around humans so we have to see the human, first. How we conduct ourselves, how we treat others is essential. Staff and customers alike are worthy of respect, of being seen and treated with dignity.
Even in the instance of staff not performing up to mark: under-performers should and can be held accountable for their work and still be treated with respect and dignity. I believe too that it is respectful to the organisation, the rest of the staff and customers, to hold under-performing staff accountable and in turn, address workload issues (a contributing factor to burnout).
An Invitation to Reflect
If you are wondering “why am I feeling burnt out?” or if you find it hard to cope with stress, one of the factors I would encourage you to consider would be:
“Are you being treated with respect and dignity?”
Some questions you can ask yourself, if you are feeling disconnected and emotionally exhausted are:
- Are you given an appropriate amount of workload and a working environment that allows you to perform your work with dignity?
- Whether you are a manager or a staff member, are you shown through interactions with others at your workplace that you are valued and heard?
- Are you only assessed by the numbers and digits that you can bring to the table?
- Are you frequently dealing with the emotional outbursts of others at your workplace without regard for the impact on you?
- Are you regularly expected to neglect your own needs and pander to the ego or needs of your superiors, colleagues or customers?
It can be damaging on our emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing if we are expected to disregard our humanity and/ or the humanity of others in the name of work.
My invitation here is to have you see the human first. You as a human and the other human as well.
If you are impacted by burnout and would like some suggestions for self-care, I’ve written a post on affordable self-care for wholesome wellness here. If you would like some support and would like to give online counselling with me a try, go ahead and book a free 30-minute consultation call with me here.