USD Magazine, Spring 1996

"I looked at some of the problems our society is experiencing and decided we need to go back to the source," Rabbi Dosick says. "We can't teach business values unless we give our chil– dren a foundation in ethics. We need to work from the bottom up." Rabbi Dosick blames two phenomena for the dearth of morality in today's world. He says our culture increasingly can be described as a "me society" and a "not-me society." "The 'me society' is a selfish society that puts the individual above the community and the common good," Rabbi Dosick explains. "The 'not-me society' is a culture in which everyone is a victim and people aren't willing to take responsibility for their own actions." To explain how people can work toward a more ethical soci– ety, Rabbi Dosick did not invent any new or revolutionary way of thinking, but instead researched different spiritual traditions and ancient wisdom, and worked to update those philosophies for our times. He also called upon his own trials and errors as a parent.

way of realizing that with our individual rights come responsi– bilities, and that there are consequences to all of our actions." Although the concept of other-esteem has not yet found its way into mainstream psychology, Hwang has for years trained his counseling students in the psychology of interdependency. He also practices those theories in his own work. "As a professor, I have to realize that I need the students and must treat them with respect," Hwang says. "In the same way, I help them understand they should never look down upon those they counsel. We are all dependent on others." In addition to promoting other-esteem and interdependency in his classroom teaching, Hwang is bringing his theory to students through an other-esteem scholarship program, which is funded by donations and the proceeds from his book. "I've seen tremendous changes in students who learn about other-esteem, and the scholarship program will encourage them to promote those changes in others," Hwang says. "By practicing other-esteem, they create a ripple effect in the world around them, and the philosophy spreads." Hwang, a frequent lecturer and consultant, says the idea of other-esteem, and his book, came about because of the fre– quent questions he received about how to begin developing a more supportive, caring society. While he doesn't expect the focus on self-esteem to shift overnight, Hwang is encouraged by the number of people seeking an antidote to our self– obsessed society. "We have years of self-interest ingrained within us," Hwang says. "Changing that is very difficult, but people truly are ready for this type of thinking and living." Moral Maps When Rabbi Wayne Dosick first realized he needed to write a book about ethical values for business, the inspiration came from the heavens. But not in the way one might expect. "I was traveling on an airplane and went to get a maga– zine," recalls Rabbi Dosick, a professor in USD's Department of Theological and Religious Studies. "The only one left was Fortune, which isn't my usual reading material. But I was inspired by an article that asked, 'Should your company have soul?'" Rabbi Dosick decided an answer in the affirmative was needed, so he researched and wrote a book titled The Business Bible: Ten New Commandments for Creating an Ethical Workplace, which was published in 1993. Although the book was greeted enthusiastically and sold well, Rabbi Dosick found that people were looking for moral guidance not just in the workplace, but in their daily lives as well. "When I lectured to businesspeople, I often talked about their need to apply the values they learned as children from their parents to the workplace," Rabbi Dosick says. "While the older people nodded in agreement, those under 35 just stared. Many of them hadn't learned those values at home." Rabbi Dosick realized that a business bible alone wasn't sufficient to satisfy society's hunger for moral and ethical guidance. He went back to the drawing board and came up with Golden Rules: The Ten Ethical Values Parents Need to Teach Their Children, a book published last year.

"I can only tell stories about my own children because that is what I know," Rabbi Dosick says.

"If I can learn from my own mistakes, so can other people." Although Rabbi Dosick's two books might seem different on the surface, many of their principles overlap. Pilfering office supplies, for example, is not just a crime that leads to an uneth– ical workplace, Rabbi Dosick says, but also is an action that sets an example for children. "The philosophy is simple: As we are, so our children will be," Rabbi Dosick says. "If our children see us shirking our morals and trying to get away with unethical behavior, they will follow our example." Rabbi Dosick also points out that as parents can set an exam– ple for their children, so too can businesses set an example for each other. The Business Bible cites a number of businesses - such as Ben & Jerry's or Tom's of Maine - that are both ethically and morally sound, and successful at the same time.

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