Respecting Effectively
“Effective, successful contributors are those who `walk the talk’ of respecting others”, a sage says.
Respect is about genuinely caring about others; understanding their strengths, weaknesses, and needs; looking others in the eye and listening; expecting, seeking and telling the truth; recognizing and rewarding; and, remembering that human frailties can be overcome with effort and by focusing on improving, growing, and doing right things and things right.
Think about the absence of respect for just a minute … some of us have felt the sting of someone who may have neglected to include or acknowledge us or sharply criticized us. If continued and repetitious, we become discouraged, disengaged and derailed from the path of productivity.
We need to recover from the negative `omissions and commissions’ by learning from them and working on `doing and being’ better. Yes, `to err is human’ … and making mistakes and forgetting to include, acknowledge, or positively motivate – all of these are `forgivable’. If there’s a lack of awareness of the err, or worse yet – if pride gets in the way of correcting and moving forward … it’s one of those signs of trouble. While good results may be achieved, if relationships are broken and unrepaired – success will be short-lived and less than exemplary.
As job seekers we should appreciate the important and difficult challenge that all of us face. We should `walk the talk of respect’ – it’s our shared responsibility! Clearly it’s an important be-attitude to … do/be for others, what we want them to do/be for us.
Post Script … The past four posts have been on the subject of `effectiveness’ and generic skills and traits. I trust that you’ve gained some insights. The skills and traits of effective and improved leadership, communication, problem-solving, and respect are sine qua non – (that without which there is nothing) in life and the workplace. I welcome your inputs and dialogue on these subjects!