The Golden Rule is part and parcel of the messages in virtually every religion in the world, and can serve as the inspiration for our love for employees and customers alike:
Islam: not one of you truly believes until what you wish for others, you wish for yourself
Christianity: do unto others as you would have them do onto you
Taoism: regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss
Confucianism: one word which sums up the basis of all good conduct – “loving-kindness”
Hinduism: the sum of duty – do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you
Judaism: what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor
The Dalai Lama stated, “Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, and sharing other people’s suffering. On these lines, every religion has more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal.” The Golden Rule is intended to apply to all whom we encounter. It isn’t meant for us to selectively apply to only fellow believers, members of our race or political persuasion, or only at our places of worship.
If you don’t think The Golden Rule works in business, consider this. We have several municipality clients that run police forces. After implementing The Disney Way culture in their organizations and using The Golden Rule as one of their guiding values, the number of complaints pertaining to the police department all but disappeared. In fact, police officers are routinely being recommended for quarterly customer service awards, even after issuing a ticket costs the customer more than $200!
Perhaps if we could implement The Golden Rule in all of our businesses across the world, countries would learn from their examples.
