We are pleased to share that PhD in Leadership Change alum Emily Aiken, PhD, and faculty member Professor Aqeel Tirmizi, PhD, recently published an article, “Towards a Theory of Fostering Workplace Dignity Across Social Identity Differences: Practices of Exemplary Supervisors,” in the Journal of Positive Psychology, a leading peer-reviewed journal in the field of well-being studies.
Their research makes an important contribution to understanding how leaders can foster dignity in the workplace, particularly across social identity differences. Rather than focusing on violations of dignity, the study examines the positive practices of exemplary supervisors and identifies six key dimensions of dignity-promoting leadership: being a conduit of power, navigating paradox, attending to intuition of misalignment, negotiating collective alignment, developing shared meaning, and seeking the edges of the whole person.
The findings suggest that supervisors foster workplace dignity by recognizing each person’s uniqueness, remaining open to influence across differences, and applying those insights to build dignity-centered team cultures. The resulting theory offers valuable insight into how leaders can create positive organizational cultures and support flourishing relationships among employees.
Congratulations to Dr. Aiken and Professor Tirmizi on this meaningful contribution to the field of leadership and organizational studies.
