CHAPTER 12
Social Responsibility
“You are not here to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.”
—FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON
Can you imagine a world where everyone looked out only for his or her own self-interest? Try to envision a world in which nobody cared about anyone else. Quite frightening, isn't it? I find it hard to envision such a place. When I do, I imagine violent gangs, murdering anyone who stands in their way, or pirates, staying together only because as a group they are able to become richer faster than they could as individuals. Yet, even in these groups, I imagine there must be some form of caring for each other that goes beyond immediate gain.
I'm sure you are familiar with the saying by the seventeenth-century English author, John Donne: “No man is an island.” It encompasses the essence of the concept of social responsibility. We are all on this earth together and our actions, or lack of them, impact a lot of people around us. We are socially responsible to the degree that we see ourselves as being part of something larger than ourselves. Socially responsible people have a sense of duty to make the world a better place in which to live.
The Importance of Community
Another mark of great organizations, Robin Sharma claims, is their ability to build structures that allow everyone to feel safe and be respected for their contributions and uniqueness. These organizations are able to tap into the most basic needs of fitting in to something greater than ourselves that are an intrinsic part of our human nature.1
Most of us likely do not feel that we have any direct impact on the world. After all, we are not world leaders, in whose hands the fate of millions of people lie. As Mother Teresa said, “We cannot do great things, we can only do small things in a great way.” However, we do impact our own micro version of the world, our communities in which we live. By doing our part to improve our own environment, we contribute in some manner to making our own world better. The children's soccer coach who volunteers hours of his or her time encouraging and inspiring the players may never know the difference he or she has made in a young person's life. Think of the things you have done in your life that would not have been possible if someone had not been willing to donate their own time.
Wonderful organizations such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Big Brothers are only a few of many that help to shape future generations. They are all dependent on people who are willing to contribute their time or resources to the overall good. On another level, social responsibility means respecting the rights of others, and obeying laws that were put into place to protect all of us. It means doing our piece to protect the environment. Even though it takes time and effort on our part, we usually receive no external benefit directly.
Whether it is through volunteering or paid work, it has been shown that work that helps others brings us satisfaction and happiness. Tom W. Smith, director of General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has found that the people who reported the highest level of happiness and satisfaction were those that had jobs serving other people. The benefits of helping others out are enormous. One of the best-known ways for people who are dealing with feelings of depression to help themselves is to help others. One therapist I know recommends to patients who are feeling down to find someone who feels worse than they do and help cheer up that person.
Because we tend to live out what we think about, if we are thinking thoughts of what we are lacking, then we will experience feelings of sadness. It can be difficult to change our thoughts from our focus on what we don't have to thoughts of gratitude. One way to do this is to find someone who needs help and help them. This will help take the focus off of ourselves and help us see that, regardless of our situation, there are always things that we can be grateful for. Helping does not have to involve people. If we are animal lovers, spending time with a homeless puppy can bring us feelings of satisfaction and happiness.
Although doing volunteer work has always been a part of my life, I was especially involved during a period of unemployment. It was a difficult time for me. Getting out and helping those less fortunate took my mind off my own problems and helped me to feel that I was contributing something worthwhile to society. While I am a strong advocate of volunteerism for everyone, I feel it is crucial for anyone who finds himself or herself involuntary unemployed.
Although there are numerous individuals who have dedicated their lives to serving others, Mother Teresa and Albert Schweitzer are probably two of the best-known examples. Mother Teresa dedicated her adult life to helping some of the most desperately poor on earth in the slums of Calcutta. Albert Schweitzer, a talented physician, chose to spend his life helping eradicate disease and illness in Africa and built a clinic that today continues the work he began.
Jimmy Carter, after losing the election to Ronald Reagan, went through a difficult transition period. No longer having a powerful position and being out of the limelight has always been a difficult situation to accept for those who once held responsible and high-profile positions, but Jimmy Carter found meaning in helping others. He became a spokesperson for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds affordable housing for those who otherwise would not be able to afford to own their own homes. Not only did the Carters become one of Habitat for Humanity's most well-known benefactors, they regularly travel around the country and help out in the actual construction of the homes. The Carters are still very active and involved in their community.
Qualities of a Helper
People who score high in the social responsibility area also tend to be strong in empathy. They are sensitive to the needs of others and have a strong internal drive to contribute. As well, they tend to be grateful for what they have been given in life and want to share it. Generally, these people are happy and optimistic, insofar as they choose to think the best of others. Another common denominator of people who generously volunteer their time is that they have themselves been through some hardship or crisis.
Social responsibility is the easiest of all of the emotional intelligence traits on which to rate people, because it is visible and public. It is one of the traits where women tend to score higher overall. One of the explanations may be that throughout history the nurturing role of staying home and looking after the family has been bestowed on women. This role has increased women's nurturing capacity and leads them to become predominant in traditional care-giving roles such as nursing. Men, while not traditionally raised to show emotions or to be nurturing, are beginning to be more open to these areas. Organizations like the Mankind Project encourage men to express and share feelings, look after each other, and contribute to their communities.
While individuals who have unselfishly responded to community needs have always been the unsung heroes in our world, organizations are increasingly becoming involved in contributing to their communities. A large construction company has for the last couple of years paid the full salaries of tradespeople employed by them for working on a Habitat for Humanity project.
One of the benefits of helping others is that it increases our awareness of the things that we have in our lives that we can be grateful for. Dr. Michael McCullough at the University of Miami found that people with feelings of gratitude tended to have more vitality and optimism, suffered less stress, and had fewer episodes of clinical depression than the overall population. Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis did a study on people who kept a journal in which they kept track of things to be grateful for. He found that this group enjoyed better health, were more optimistic, exercised more regularly, and felt they were happier than those that did not keep such journals.
“We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.”
—MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
The House That Love Built
Southwest Airlines exemplifies giving back to their communities through their involvement with Ronald McDonald Houses. Founded in 1984 in Philadelphia by Dr. Audrey Evans and Philadelphia Eagles' right end Fred Hill, whose daughter had leukemia, the houses offer accommodation, compassion, and support for families who have children in hospitals. The program has since expanded and Ronald McDonald House Charities provide an array of services to improve the health and well-being of children around the globe and has become one of the largest not-for-profit organizations in the world. At every location that Southwest serves, staff and their families spend countless hours visiting, cooking meals, and comforting the children and their parents. Starting in Houston, employees began the practice of cooking monthly dinners at the local Ronald McDonald House. This started a practice of employees cooking dinner during June and November of each year at all houses within the Southwest system. A particularly heartfelt story about the relationship between a little girl with leukemia and Southwest staff is told to us by Tonda Montague, director of employee relations.
Due to my involvement with the Ronald McDonald House, I was one of the employees asked to be in the commercial Southwest was filming at the Fort Worth Ronald McDonald House. On that day, I met the person who taught me the most about life—the person who touched my heart and made me realize the greatest joy one can experience is sharing with others and to get the most out of life each and every day because life can be so uncertain.
It still amazes me how much I learned from that vivacious five-year-old who bounced into my life that day. We became instant friends, and during the next three years we did indeed learn a lot from each other. One thing Shea taught me was to never feel sorrow—she was too spunky for that. With Shea, every day was a celebration of life.
I visited her often at M.D. Anderson Hospital, and through all that pain she always asked about her friends in Southwest. We celebrated her sixth, seventh, and eighth birthdays at the Houston Ronald McDonald House, and I will never forget the time we gave her family a $3,000 check of donations from Southwest employees and as they drove off, Shea yelled: “Thanks for the million dollars.” Or the time she barreled over the table as the Houston mechanics presented her with a bicycle. She was so appreciative of all we did for her.
In my heart, I never believed she would leave us. And I guess she really hasn't, because I feel her presence each and every day.2
“The best way to cheer you up is to cheer someone else up.”
—MARK TWAIN, AMERICAN HUMORIST, SATIRIST, LECTURER, AND WRITER
Rachel and Ed's Story
Rachel and Ed's life was hectic. Between soccer practices and dance and music lessons for their children, they were on the go from early morning until late at night every day of the week. Despite their busy schedules, they still had time to reach out and extend themselves beyond their immediate family. When asked what possessed them to add further to their already active schedules, both agreed that they wanted their children to be able to appreciate what they had and develop a sense of sharing and caring about those less fortunate. Ed loved playing soccer and, while growing up, had been a star player in his school. Since he had two sons who were now playing soccer, he decided he would offer to coach one of their teams. Rachel, between taking the children to their various activities, managed to find time to deliver meals to shut-in seniors a couple of times a month.
As the children grew up and left home, Rachel and Ed continued to be heavily involved in charities. Because Ed's business had been quite successful, they did not have financial concerns. Through the various organizations in which they were involved, they started a process to collect school supplies and donations of clothing for children in third-world countries. Ed and Rachel made a number of trips to a selected Central American country and personally delivered the materials to the children in a school they had chosen. One of their fondest memories of these times was the smiles of joy on the children's faces when they unexpectedly received some bright article of clothing.
Ed's social responsibility did not stop at his personal life, however. His company contributed to the community in a large way. As a construction company with more than twenty employees, they were able to take the lead on constructing a Habitat for Humanities home every year. Each employee was given a day off per month with full pay to perform this community service. The company also donated a great deal of material and used their equipment for the projects. Ed encouraged the employees and their families to donate their own time as well and many of them did. Although his business was known for high turnover, the company was well known for having a core of long-term loyal employees and had a reputation in the community for being a great place to work.
Ed and his sons who were involved in the company came up with an informal way of interviewing potential employees. They would ask the person being interviewed to spend some time introducing themselves to the staff and chatting for a few minutes to find out about what they did. In the meantime, Ed and his sons would leave, telling the potential employee that they would be back in half an hour or so. Unbeknownst to the job seekers, the employees had been coached in different scenarios to simulate a working situation where they would be struggling to accomplish something on their own, something that would be easier to do if they had a helping hand.
Afterwards, the employees would report back to Ed and his sons about whether the job seeker had taken the initiative to offer a hand and how quickly the candidate reacted to the employee's need for help. For example, the electrician would be struggling and straining to get a heavy panel into place, a job that would be made much easier and quicker if he or she had an extra pair of hands. The job seekers who quickly took the initiative to offer the worker the needed help were the most likely to be hired. Scenarios were also set up whereby it looked as if someone had accidentally dropped or lost something. Seeing the article, would the job seeker pick it up and turn it in, or ignore it since it was not their responsibility and they were not directly affected. Although they might seem like small and insignificant events to us, to Ed and his family the reaction of the job seeker to these staged scenarios were indicators as to their degree of teamwork orientation and concern for others. Since actions speak louder than words, Ed and his family found that what people did when they had no expectations placed on them was a much more effective way to screen for good employees. Although there were other issues that came up with employees after they were hired, they almost always hired people who were hardworking, good team players, responsible, and gave back to the community.
Rachel passed away several years ago, after battling breast cancer for a number of years. Ed, still healthy and active, continues to do the work that was so much a part of their lives. He feels very fortunate that he is still able to contribute, as it helps him cope with his loss. It also gives him a purpose and meaning to his life. Recently he spent two months in Somalia helping in the construction of a school. Cameron, Ed's son, has taken over control of the family company, giving Ed more time to do the charity work that he finds so fulfilling. Cameron continues on in the tradition of service that was so important to his father. On occasion, when he finds time in his hectic schedule, he accompanies his father on foreign-aid missions. For Cameron, these are special bonding times that the two of them get to spend together. Ed is at a total loss to understand how healthy people at his age (he is now seventy-three) can stand to sit around and do little with their time but get older, when there is so much in the world that needs to be done.
Ed speaks with great pride of his children, telling everyone how well they are doing. Recently, he went to an award ceremony sponsored by the city in which they live. Sarah, their youngest daughter who works as a nurse, was being honored for her work with inner-city residents. It was a very special moment for Ed, one he wished Rachel had been alive to see.
“Do definite good, first of all to yourself, then to definite persons.”
—JOHN LANCASTER SPALDING, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
Techniques for Increasing Social Responsibility
- Set a certain amount of time aside that you will give regularly toward a worthwhile cause that you choose. Decide how much time you can donate and guard that time by giving it the same importance as exercise and recreational time.
- Choose a worthy cause. Make it something you have a personal connection with. If you have lost a loved one to cancer, for example, volunteer at the Cancer Society. The personal connection will give you a better sense that you are contributing your time to something worthwhile.
- Become more active in your workplace, church, or other organization you belong to by looking for opportunities to take on extra responsibility.
- Next time you see someone on the road with a stalled vehicle, and it is safe to do so, stop and offer to help.
- If you see someone at work or at home struggling with their workload, and you have some spare time, ask if you can help them.
- Think of the talents that you have and the gifts that have been bestowed on you. Consider ways that you can share these gifts with others through charitable acts.
Notes
1. Robin Sharma, Greatness Guide Book 2 (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), p. 166.
2. Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, NUTS! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success (New York: Broadway Books, 1998), p. 241.