4 Instrumental Actions that Can Help You Earn Respect

One of the most important assets to possess in business has nothing to do with wealth or money.  It’s respect.  If the relationships you build as a professional aren’t founded on respect, it’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish any meaningful goals.  For example, customers need to respect a brand, in order to develop loyalty towards a company’s products.  Colleagues need to respect each other, in order to collaborate on projects or missions.  Even in terms of management, subordinates need to respect a company’s leadership, before an organization can function in competitive markets.  Here are a few tips on how to generate and sustain a respectable reputation: 

 

1.    Be Respectful Proactively: 

               Any form of human decency is reciprocal in nature.  This is to say that unless you’re dealing with unusual circumstances, the energy you put out into the universe is exactly what you’ll get back in kind.  If you want other people to respect you, it’s necessary to show respect first personally. 

 

2.    Put Yourself in Other People’s Shoes: 

               Respect isn’t about being worshiped. It’s about being appreciated.  It’s about creating the perception that you are deserving of courtesy and consideration.  This is only possible when your consciousness is in tune with other people’s needs and expectations.  Think about what it is that others expect from you, and meet those expectations in an honorable fashion. 

 

3.    Keep Your Word: 

               One of the most important cornerstones of respect is trust.  The more difficulty people have trusting you, the less incentive there is to show respect.  Always speak the truth, and always honor your commitments.  Go the extra mile to guarantee that people can count on your promises, or put faith in your statements.

 

4.    Take Pride in Yourself: 

               People have a natural instinct not to respect anyone who doesn’t respect themselves.  Before you go looking for respect from other people, make sure to develop principles and standards which govern your self-image.  Recognize your own value first, so that when the time comes to share that value with others, you can do so without compromising your standards. 

 

Conclusion:

               The English Dictionary defines respect as “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.” This kind of admiration isn’t something which can be spoken into existence. It takes tangible action to win the hearts and minds of other people.  The easiest way to start cultivating respect is to practice empathy. Examine yourself through the eyes of other people, and use that perspective to figure out the best way to create a dignified impression.