The Mayan Way Has Much to Teach CSR Professionals

Recently I had the opportunity to attend and listen to the teachings of a Mayan indigenous woman who won the Nobel Prize in 1992, and I found myself thinking what lessons she'd be able to impart to CSR professionals all over the world. If sitting amongst me that day at Naropoa University in Boulder, CO, were CSR executives, what would they learn from Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a tiny but mighty Guatemalan woman who won the Nobel Prize for leading her indigenous community in a non-violent movement against an oppressive military government. A woman who was an influential figure in the creation of a peaceful accord in her native Guatemala that ended a 36-year civil war.

At the very least, corporate social responsibility warriors would have gained perspective because Rigoberta embodies perspective. These CSR professionals would have seen and heard stories of what happens when countries forget that their native sons and daughters deserve the same humane treatment that they bestow upon themselves.

Applying that idea to corporate conference rooms and CSR meetings would remind us that when managers take advantage of their subordinate's expertise while taking credit when presenting the work to their superiors; when they chastise employees for developing creative partnerships with community groups that help an under served population; and when they downgrade an employee's performance rating on the basis that the employee suggests alternative views to a departmental or organizational challenge, they not only disrespect the employee but they also undermine the very CSR efforts that the company claims to embrace.

In many corporate hallways, lip service is a cheap and hollow commodity that sets an immediate stage of great imbalance. By contrast, in Mayan culture, the concept of equilibrium and reciprocity are not things you do now and then and call it a day; they're a way of life. As I looked around the room and thought about what people tasked with corporate social responsibility missions would be able to take back to their offices and CSR paper strategies, I marveled at the possibility that they'd be inspired to become better listeners. Engaging our organizational constituents is a delicate and imperative activity that can't succeed if our mouths are running all the time and we consistently fail to ask for their input. As importantly, if as CSR professionals we make it a practice to ask for stakeholder feedback, we must listen to them. I mean really listen. Talk about tipping the scales toward balance and reciprocity! I think Rigoberta would approve.