Respect
Leaders MUST ensure that they respect and affirm the value of each individual; this is a cornerstone of highly-effective organizations.
Respect for people:
- Treat people as the most important asset in the company – not just the cliché
- Realize people are more important than task
- Create a trust that brings reliability, predictability, and consistency
- Understand individuals are a “10” hungry for achieving something bigger than themselves
- Treat others as you would expect them to treat you
- Create an environment of mutual trust and respect
- Practice welcoming problems as opportunities, not a vehicle to allocate blame and shame
- Understand issues from another’s point of view. Seek to understand, seek to empathize
- Recognize and demonstrate the value of people to the company
- Recognize and support the need for people to learn and develop
- Aim for win-win conclusion in situations
- Establish a covenant of civility
It gets no simpler than this; “the golden rule”. Do not be a hypocrite who sights the cliché that “our people are our greatest asset” then cut budgets for training and development, or worse - the people’s jobs. Do not treat them as the stepping stone to an objective, or less important than the task itself. Leaders rise above this cliché and create a community based on relationships of trust, value for one another, affirmation, mutual respect, truth and civility that brings reliability, predictability, and consistency. Leaders seek to understand with empathy, seek the input and advice from those within the process from their perspective and expertise. They establish an environment in which individuals know they can bring their spirit and passion as a positive good each day identifying and solving issues without blame and shame.
