Why We Need More HSPs in Business

I'll be the first to admit as an HSP who has not only studied business (twice), but has worked in it for some time, that I feel out of place. It's not the natural place for a sensitive, since its demands and rewards structure work against many of the innate characteristics we possess and exhibit. That said, those same innate characteristics are exactly what's needed to transform that world from its "bottom-line only" mentality.

A few days ago I read a post from Seth Godin's blog entitled "Losing Andrew Carnegie" that really struck me. In a nutshell it talks about how the people of an organization are more valuable than its tangible assets. The people of an organization are more valuable because tangible assets, processes, rules, regulations, and the bottom line are replaceable. An organization's human capital, on the other hand, is irreplaceable and is what actually drives an organization to new heights.

This post really hit home for me, not only as an HSP, but as someone who could have literally lost her life due to an organization's gross negligence. This gross negligence occurred because they were worried and focused on the bottom line rather than the safety and lives of their people. This organization decided that saving money was worth more than the voices of its employees who brought a safety concern to their attention several months prior to one of their employees getting severely injured. It was only after the injury that they decided to take some sort of action, in the form of a cheaper "band-aid" type of alternative, rather than perform the expensive "surgery" that was needed in the first place.

As HSPs, we are the ones that naturally look past what most consider to be a priority in business. While we're no different from our non-HSP counterparts in the sense that we still wish to meet or exceed performance standards, adhere to the processes when they make sense, and respect the tangible for what it can give us, we tend to place a higher value on the people behind them. The human factor is what we see first, what we understand best, what we base our decisions on, and what we shape our process designs around.

Now, some in the business world may view that perspective as being "unprofitable," "inefficient," "wishy-washy," "too nice," and so on. However, as someone who has worked for a variety of organizations, I'd rather spend my time contributing to the success of one where I felt appreciated and valued as an individual person, rather than just another number helping them make more money at my expense.