Generally, organizational structures reflect bureaucratic values. Structures imply ways of being with and relating to people. The process of relating is typically illustrated in a hierarchical fashion. The concept of hierarchy carries with it the notion that there is a "top" and a "bottom." Competition, levels, and positions of power are implicit. In climbing the rungs of a bureaucratic ladder, it is difficult for the employee to be authentic and valued as a unique person with special ideas because the risks of such valuing are often too great for the bureaucracy to bear. Competition too remains the driving force of most organizations. Within an organization, however, we can imagine each person's hands as clinging to the rungs of the bureaucratic ladder. Taken further, this image would clearly portray persons who are not and can not be open to receive and know other. Because of the vertical axis of the bureaucratic hierarchy, persons, more often than not, are viewed as objects. The ladder positions people so that they are either looking up or down but rarely eye-to-eye. Obviously, the hierarchical model does not support the idea of each person as important in and to him or herself. By contrast, and from the assumptions posited in Nursing as Caring, the model for being in relationships resembles a dance of caring persons (Boykin, 1990). The same persons are present in this circle that were in the hierarchical structure described above. The difference between the two models is the philosophical way of being with other. Because the nature of relating in the circle is grounded in a respect for and valuing of each person, the way of being is diametrically opposed to traditional patterns of relating in organizations. Leaving the security provided by known hierarchical structures, however, requires courage, trust, and humility. Building on the assumptions of this theory, one can infer that the basic dance of all persons in relationships is to know self and other as caring person. Each person is encouraged and supported in a culture that values person-as-person, person as caring. [Illustration: Dancing Circle]