Respect Makes Better Business Sense
I’m very lucky to have neighbours that are part of the Salvation Army. I really admire what they do and how they care about others in their community.
I for one couldn’t get up at 6am on Saturday morning to go down to the Police stations to be with people who are coming down off drink or drugs to be with them for court. But they do.
I understand that there are things that we can each do that leaves others wondering how.
I admire my neighbours but I don’t feel bad that I can’t do what they do, I just do what I can do.
I’m writing about them because I had a really good chat with the husband, Tony, this afternoon and one of the things that struck me was his comment that he sees such a lack of respect (and not just in court).
I don’t want this to sound like a diatribe but I think respect is really important.
I think we need to treat the children in our lives with respect – listen to what they are saying, when they are off on a tangent that you are lost with ask them to go over it again because you are interested (this is a very powerful word with children – they love having adults interested in them so hearing the word is really good).
Tony was saying how there is a natural leave of respect you show people and respect above that amount is earnt.
This made so much sense to me. I initially thought he was talking about positions and roles – respecting the police uniform, the office of Parliment, that sort of thing.
But his example was the elderly. Yes, we should respect the elderly, very simple. We should respect the age, the years they have lived. Think about it, someone in their 80’s were children of the Depression, youth of the War, builders of a strong economy in the boom years and raised families through recessions. None of that is easy.
We show respect for our service women and men on ANZAC Day but how about living with that respect all year round?
How about sharing our roads with other drivers (good, bad or indifferent) with respect? Wave thank you when you’re let in, letting someone in, smiling at others when you make eye contact (you get a smile back, it’s very good).
What about your work mates? I know I’ve worked with some people I’ve thought to be complete twits but I’ve ended up respecting their skills.
Do you remember that song “R E S P E C T – find out what it means to me”? It’s a good song.
When you offer respect to others you walk taller and stronger. It is very hard to respect others if you don’t respect yourself.
If you don’t respect yourself why stay that way? Why not explore how to change in ways that you want to live your life? It isn’t a quick overnight thing, it is a life time process but one that is so rewarding.
So how about offering respect to ourselves, our loved ones, children, elderly, colleagues, customers, and suppliers? The difference in the relationships is so rewarding.
Remember also, better relationships makes better business.