The CEO of a publicly-traded company posted their Corporate Social Responsibility Report today. In his post, he talked about respect for people. I was curious about what respecting people meant to him, so I asked. Based on experience, I’m not expecting a response, so I’ll ask you. What does respecting people mean to you? What does it look like when you respect another person?
I ask because I don’t think we have enough of it in business today. To me, respect means people’s valuable qualities – informed opinions, ideas, feelings, wishes, rights, and traditions – are considered important and held in regard by other people.
People should be shown respect even when you disagree with them and choose to make decisions and take actions that are different from what they want. As a leader, showing respect means inviting team members to participate in decision-making and action planning. It means asking good questions to understand people’s perspectives, listening intensely, thanking them for speaking up, sharing your thinking, making an informed choice, and jointly developing an implementation plan.
In my experience in large companies, too many leaders see their role as telling, making sure that no matter what happens, their solution prevails. It’s challenging to show team members respect when that’s your mindset.