13 Cost-Free Ways to Ignite Energy
Disrespect feels like a pat on the head, followed by a closing door.
Disrespect encourages your inner accuser to whisper, “You don’t matter.”
Disrespect increases sick days, slow downs, and paybacks.
Nearly 80% of employees lower their commitment when they feel disrespected.*
Disrespect increases turnover.
Disrespect is:
- Neglect.
- Disregard.
- Diminishing another’s value – disdain.
- Power for insecure leaders.
- Twisting the knife.
Feeling disrespected:
- Increases tension.
- Aggravates conflict.
- Lowers engagement.
- Diminishes fulfillment.
One of the most powerful things leaders do is show respect.
13 ways to ignite energy by showing respect:
- Describe another person’s point of view and ask if you get it.
- Accept what’s important to others, even if it isn’t to you.
- Expect people to live up to their strengths and aspirations.
- Be candid with kindness and direct with openness. Dancing around people suggests others are weak and you are superior.
- Stop what you’re doing when someone enters your office.
- Explain impact and contribution. Let people know they matter.
- Say thank you, a lot.
- Invite and listen to another’s opinion.
- Use manners. Stand when people enter the room, for example.
- Honor behaviors. Don’t just say, good job. Explain what you see and why it’s important.
- Show approval in one area, even when people are imperfect in another.
- Acknowledge people in the room. Say their name or introduce them, for example.
- Define and honor respectful behaviors at work. You get what you honor.
Respect from leaders fuels everyone’s engine.
Respect:
- Levels the playing field.
- Enables boldness.
- Protects creativity.
- Invites connection.
- Makes bad situations better and finding solutions easier.
Respect paves the path to your preferred future. You might get there without respect, but it’s not worth it.
What makes you feel disrespected? Respected?
How might leaders show respect?
*The Price of Incivility, Harvard Business Review
Listening and acknowledging an individual shows respect.
Thanks Larry. It’s amazing how “not talking” can be powerful.
Dear Dan,
When people do not pay attention, I feel disrespected. When people laugh without reason, I feel disrespected. Disrespect is the matter of understanding each other. When you understand someone, it creates path to respect. When people make quick opinion, it hinders understanding. In case of leaders, they can show respect by many ways. In the organisation, prevalent ways to create respect is to interact with people. When they frequently meet people informally, people feel respected. Secondly, people expect justice from leaders. When they feel cheated, they start creating disrespect for leaders. Leadership message is very important for employees. Leaders give them strong message about their expectation and show their commitment. They should set their own example. Action is deciding factor to get respect. Leaders with authenticity, integrity and courage always create caring culture where everyone gets respect and respects others.
Thanks Dr. Gupta. Wow! You sure said a lot.
I really like the idea that we show respect by giving ourselves and our attention to others. That’s what you made me think about.
The quick opinion idea really helps me too. Slow down a bit. Too much speed feels like disrespect.
A quick way to improve the culture of the organization is to get rid of bullying behavior at all levels. Bullying is a huge contributor to disrespect !
Thanks Richard. Too add to your comment. It’s necessary to identify bullying behaviors, as well. Glad you joined in.
Good morning Dan,
How are you? It’s a simple day to gesture but I have seen many guys from top to bottom or bottom to TOP having reluctance to say I am fine , I am discussing normal etiquettes.
Respect directly correlated to motivation and helping us in establishing cultural values. So it means that motivation and respect are intra related and one of defined values of cultural values.
Now question comes who is responsible for disrespect and respect.
2. When respect leads to motivation then we should forget disrespect leads to FRUSTRATION. when frustration comes it suppress the innovation and creativity which are again parameters of cultural values. So who is responsible for frustration which is sister of disrespect and leading towards heavy deterioration of output of employees at root level. At upper level it’s called frustration and at lower level it’s called IGNORANCE.
who is respinsible……….
Once again it’s matter of leadership and more precisely motivated leadership. Like when people enters into office there should be a celebration for process orientation which leads towards excellence with a feel of motivation like ” Yes, I can” it would come only when he is feeling I am part of this organisation with SAT and as I said yesterday create SAT – self appreciation quotient correlated to self respect with respect appreciation helped many organisation in increasing their output at a very nominal cost of respect and motivation with cultural orientation for a common goal with people for the people with RESPECT.
Leadership matters with SAT ………. RESPECT
CRAZY
Mr Dan,
Even in your blog you are sharing 13 elements of respect.
I asked u “how are you ” and you didn’t reply even it’s disrespect.
Vinay
This is far too prevalent today, hits close to home. Why is it the ones needing to read and follow this are the ones ignoring it’s message?
Words cannot describe how deeply today’s Leadership Freak blog has touched me today. I have to show my pessimistic side, however, as I feel that the people who perpetuate disrespectful behavior don’t appear willing or likely that they will ever change. So I shine the light on myself and try my best to be sure that I do not treat people like this. Thank you for the tips and the thoughtful insight.
Fantastic, Dan. I love the 13 ways. Great ideas for every day and during the requisite annual review time. Dr. Gupta’s points help remind us that people have different thresholds for disrespect, most of which have been set from historical incidents – perceived slights, real conflicts, etc.
Thanks again! Great stuff!
13 great suggestions. Number 9 is lost on way too many people nowadays. One of the most common symptoms being people who answer the cell in the middle of a meeting and spend the next ten minutes yakking inane nonsense.
Thanks Dan a critical topic. Whatever someone thinks of you , they are 100% correct – it’s how you are seen in their eye’s/mind. Respect is having the courage to own the ‘perception’ and the solution.
Hi Richard, Glad you dropped in. It’s hard to accept that the way people think about you is the way people think about you. 🙂