During more than thirty years as a leadership consultant, a virtual host of disgruntled employees and customers have given me an earful about how poorly they are being treated. Every time I hear the pain and disgust in their voices as they describe the disrespect and dishonor they are experiencing, it makes me even more determined to do something about this epidemic of disrespect in the workplace.

In case you may be thinking that this is just one man’s perspective, I suggest that you read an article in The Harvard Business Review, titled “The Price of Incivility: Lack of Respect Hurts Morale and the Bottom Line” by Professor Christine Porath, Associate Professor of Management at Georgetown, and Professor Christine Pearson.

Porath and Pearson state emphatically that “Rudeness at work is rampant, and it’s on the rise. Over the past 14 years we’ve polled thousands of workers about how they’re treated on the job, and 98% have reported experiencing uncivil behavior.”

The purpose of this white paper is to help leaders realize that this issue of disrespect in the workplace is not just an HR problem; it is, in the primary sense, a ubiquitous leadership problem that is destroying the trust currency and profitability of organizations all over the world.

In this white paper you will learn the root cause of the problem of incivility and discover a detailed system for creating a culture of dignity, respect, and honor that will enable you to reap a harvest of sustainable profitability, both socially and economically.

When you look at the title of this white paper, it may not be readily apparent that there is an inextricable relationship between humility and the economic prosperity of your organization. However, I intend to prove that there is untold profitability inherent within humility … and a staggeringly high cost associated with hubris.

My desire in writing “The Economics of Developing Humility in the Workplace” is to speak to the hearts and minds of leaders, so that they will herald the monumental importance of every member of their organization growing in humility as the means to living a richer, more fulfilled, and profitable lifestyle, both personally and professionally.

In my youth, I thought success related to position, power, prestige and wealth. Since accepting Jesus in 1976, the Bible has reshaped my views. As I began to apply the Bible’s teaching on success, my worldly perspectives faded away. Today, I have enjoyed far more worldly success than I deserve. I can’t credit myself—my success is based on what God values more than the values of this world.

In this white paper, we will review a Biblical framework for true success and consider creating a written framework of your own.

Our contributing author this week, Bob Benoit, is uniquely qualified to address the issue of motive in our work. He runs three companies that train leaders and leadership teams. In pursuit of excellence to run his companies, Bob is passionately committed to modeling the values that he promotes. Motives connect directly to Vision, Mission and Values. Motives are also very close to God’s heart.

The empirical data is inarguable: there is a direct relationship between employee happiness, customer satisfaction, and bottom-line profitability. Fresh Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx, wisely revealed the order of sustainable organizational success when he penned the FedEx credo: People-Service-Profits. The three-fold order of his success formula rightly began with People, and not Profits.

The purpose of this white paper is to encourage you to consider the order of your corporate philosophy, so that you can achieve greater growth potential.

This week’s illustration is excerpted from A. W. Tozer’s writings, Man, God’s Dwelling Place. A.W. Tozer’s writings, Man, God’s Dwelling Place. Tozer, author of some of the greatest Christian classics of all time, including, Pursuit of God and Knowledge of the Holy, approached God and the scriptures, with a practical and disciplined approach that has inspired generations.