Eight human qualities that unleash greatness

We are each built on the Great Eight. These qualities are what make us unique and successful.

As we come to face rapidly changing realities, how do we solve for enhanced employee satisfaction, better customer experience and energetic execution of business strategy? How do we weave long-term value creation into daily operations?

The answer came to us through the fusion of numerous data points. At EY, we quickly discovered that the optimum digital strategy is a human strategy, one that uses technology to augment humans. Then, we examined what makes humans a unique species.

The complete collection of capabilities that make us fully human comprise the Great Eight: trust, collective cooperation, imagination, meaningful purpose, resilience, compassion, happiness and repetitive practice. The Great Eight are interconnected and propel each other. When activated in combination, they will unleash the best of individuals and teams—and therefore unleash organizations.

1. Trust: When what we do matches what we say

Trust is the superpower that lays the foundation for the other seven to emerge. To establish trust, leaders need to create a culture that values transparency, authenticity and the courage to fail.

We build trust through a pattern of selfless acts—giving our time, attention and resources to others without the expectation of material return. Selfless acts, such as extending unexpected rewards or offering additional support during heightened times of stress, tighten our human bonds, strengthen our psychological safety and help make our sense of fear more manageable.

• Trust creates a sense of shared mission, unleashing meaningful purpose.
• Trust creates a feeling of security, unleashing resilience and collective cooperation.
• Trust facilitates healthy risk-taking and activates a growth mindset, unleashing imagination.
• Trust helps us connect as individuals, unleashing happiness and compassion.
• Trust opens the door to possibility, unleashing transformative practice.

Sign of success:

• Employees feel free to make independent decisions

2. Meaningful purpose: When we know and understand why

Humans may be the only species capable of asking for meaning. We ask why, we’re engaged by the search and we’re motivated by the answers.

When an organization has a clearly defined purpose, individuals can more easily align with it. A sense of belonging, built on trust, creates a shared story that allows meaning to emerge.

Signs of success:

• It’s easy to tell the story of your organization’s purpose
• You remember when you first recognized your individual sense of purpose, when you realized how you could use your talents to build a better working world