…And Dignity for All is about the life of James Despain and his journey through the corporate ranks of Caterpillar Inc. Despain literally began his career by sweeping the floors of the factory. He excelled into the highest levels of management with the corporation, even while lacking a college education. He describes how poor behavior of his leadership, coworkers, and himself produced a working environment that seethed mistrust, anxiety, and fear. …And Dignity for All shows how corporate change is possible through value-based motivation. Is it really possible to empower people to make the right choices? What does satisfaction of the customer, mutual respect, sense of urgency, teamwork, and risk taking have in common? What happens with the supervisor or manager thinks they are the customer and their needs to be satisfied? The human dynamics of Caterpillar Inc. illustrate the difference between a manager and leader. Despain illustrates his own path of growth, from a steel spitting and overbearing supervisor to a seasoned leader involved in international and multicultural settings. Many of the leadership principles would seem to apply to the religious life and the governance we foster. What we hold to be true and worthy of the virtuous life can be readily seen in how we give dignity to one another. But can these principles of leadership assist us in building a healthy corporate culture? Not the corporate culture of the business world, but corporate in the collective sense of the word. Through the intentional means of Despain's leadership, a value-based method is introduced to Caterpillar, Inc. Like much of Despain's life, he does not enjoy mediocrity. There is no half-way or piecemeal method of incorporating a value-based ethos. This book is enjoyable and offers a clear synopsis of the principles. Notably, some of the characters of the book appear at the end as they give their testimony of Despain and the value-based method. The strength of this book is how the principles are easily grasped and the encountered obstacles of Despain are easily related to other situations. The weakness of this book falls on the occasional self-promotion of Despain. His story is interesting, and his humility comes through in the end. September 17, 2003 ...And
Dignity for All: Hardcover: 224 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.85 x 9.32 x 6.34
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