Culture and Citizenship

Because every organization needs their own.

Building Culture and exercising Citizenship in our organizations and among our people require an adept understanding of Character and Governance. As much as possible, a harmonious relationship should be forged (both in principle and in practice) between these two sets to ensure that Culture is enshrined and Citizenship made responsible.

Enshrining an Organizational Culture

The formation of coral reefs deep down our seas takes hundreds of years to grow and nourish its inhabitants. Its formation is directed by natural processes and the participation of many players for it to come about. And once this kind of habitat is capable of supporting a vast life system, we commit to preserve them as sanctuaries. In the same way, the formation of an organizational culture takes time to develop and demands participation from many actors from all levels of the organizational ladder. And once such culture has found its way through the daily operations of an organization’s life, we commit collectively to preserve it — to enshrine a culture that mirrors who we are, answers to what we have become and assures how it shall lead us to the future.

Making Citizenship Responsible

The great ancient civilizations of the Western World remind us of its past splendor by the ruins of its glorious monuments and among those that survived the tests of time are the columns (pillars). The columns are structural elements engineered to bear the weight above it and secure those below it. The genius of the column lies not on its individual architectural features and design aesthetics but according to the responsibility of individual columns to its purpose. In the same way, Citizenship finds its purpose only if all members of our organizations bear the weight of stewardship and support the causes by which our organizations exist and thrive. We make Citizenship responsible similar to how columns are made strong and reliable so that it may serve as the bedrock upon which our collective ideals and our shared destiny may be founded.

A Man of Character is like an Organization of Culture

The usage of the term ‘Character’ to the ordinary person in the street is basically pertaining to a) the moral qualities of an individual and b) the actors in a novel, play, film or show. Such usage of the term fully demonstrates how we identify with culture, how we appreciate it and how we interact with it. Since Culture in its simplest definition could mean as the collective manifestations of our ideas, customs and social behavior, individually, by referring to our own character (characteristics) and that of our family and communities and by looking at ourselves as characters (actors, agents), we can identify with culture as organic to our own character, appreciate it for it has magnified our own characteristics as virtues and interact with it because it transforms us as we are able to transform it. Meanwhile, we have to remind ourselves that character is built over time, character is positive or virtuous and character bears fruit.

Making Governance a Shared Responsibility

We, as political beings have ventured in many attempts of organizing ourselves and building just and humane societies by disposing the Power to Govern which is an inherent power of Man to steward the wherewithal of the world including the Universal Rights of Man and arguably, the Natural Order of the world. This Power to Govern has evolved from its earliest application in cities (the Greek ‘polis’) to its current eventuality as being constitutional (legal), representative and institutional. Nonetheless, the basic understanding of this power remains relevant today underscoring that it is but delegated by the people themselves. The Power to Govern is not exclusive to the offices and personalities that dispose it. Governance as it is originally the case must be a responsibility we share with those whom we delegate it to on our behalf. Equally true, our concept of Governance must be challenged and should go beyond the sphere of politics extending to every facet of our life, endeavor and interaction.

Let Culture center on Character. This would entail placing at the heart of any culture a high regard for the human person recognizing his and her rights and responsibilities and his and her strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, let Citizenship center on Governance. This would entail ordinary men and women actively participating the affairs of every organization they belong to - be it in the private or public sectors as shareholders and stakeholders.