Respect – It’s Time To Earn It

A 1980s band named Erasure came up with the catchy song ‘Give A Little Respect’. Well, respect is a word all managers and leaders should work to command in business.

Naked Leader has already established that people are not just the number one asset of a company, they are its only asset. So it follows that an important aspect of the management of people is making sure you command respect as a manager, while affording others respect too.

Saying one thing and doing another is a sure-fire way to losing the respect of staff and colleagues. Insisting everyone be in at a certain time – then rolling in an hour later – is an example of how your standing among staff will be diminished.

Honesty is vital too. Don’t make promises you won’t keep – and don’t shirk the responsibility of delivering bad news. Be careful, sensitive and tell people in the right way, at the right time. Tell them what you know even though you might not be able to reveal as much as they would like. They will prefer that to being mislead.

Don’t express one view of an issue to one person, then another to somebody else. Duplicity leads to lack of trust. And take your job seriously. Maintain high standards, meet targets, while ensuring your team work efficiently and effectively, always striving for continued improvement.

Also, remember that work is not the be-all and end-all of life – someone might have other things on their mind so keep a sense of balance and proportion in your dealings with people. And have a sense of humour. Even serious subjects can benefit from it. It is also vital to show you enjoy your work. Of course, some tasks are less enjoyable than others. Being upbeat and positive can be infectious though, and will help keep others to carry on smiling too.