I Respect You

And your ability to earn the respect of your people

“…All I’m askin’ / Is for a little respect…”

People want to be respected. They want to be respected for their competencies, their contributions, their integrity, their intentions, and their humanity. It is NOT about power or submission, and respect needs to be EARNED, not forced.

Leaders need the respect of their people, or their people will stop following them. The best way to grow and maintain the respect your people have for you is to respect them. Mutual respect is more solid and long-lasting, and you can build it in little ways every day:

• Ask for their input

• Acknowledge their expertise or experience

• Be polite—ask people to do things, instead of demanding their obedience

• Avoid using a negative tone, impatience, or condescension

• Consider their growth potential and build up their confidence, e.g., “I think you’d be great at this!”

• Acknowledge their efforts

• Praise their successes

• Be authentic—don’t “butter people up” just to ask for a favor

• When giving negative feedback, focus on the product, not the person, e.g., “THIS needs revision” instead of “YOU were wrong.”

• Be transparent with your plans and open in your communications

• Make the tough decisions promptly, and don’t procrastinate

• Follow through on your commitments and do what you say you’ll do

• Don’t waste people’s time with “busywork” or leave them waiting for you—even a “little thing” like punctuality shows respect for the people who arrived on-time for the meeting

• Share your expectations for how everyone on the team will treat one another with respect, and then be a role model for those values

• Apologize to the person if you fall short of living up to your own standards of showing respect to others, and then make it right

(Today’s earworm: Aretha Franklin - Respect (Official Audio))