Disrespect shrivels people. It awakens the inner accuser. Public correction invites people to feel stupid.
Lack of respect promotes learned helplessness.
Nearly 80% of employees lower their commitment when they feel disrespected.*
Disrespect Is
- Neglect.
- Disregard.
- Diminishing another’s value.
People seldom rise for leaders who look down on them.
One of the most powerful things leaders do is show respect. It costs nothing.
7 Ways to Show Respect that Ignite Energy
- Describe another person’s point of view. Affirm what matters to them. Ask, “Did I get that right?”
- Expect people to live up to their strengths and aspirations.
- Be forthright even if it’s uncomfortable. Dancing around issues suggests others are weak and you are superior.
- Stop what you’re doing when someone enters your office.
- 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 matters.
- Show approval in one area, even when people are imperfect in another.
Respect fuels effort.
Respect
- Levels the playing field.
- Enables boldness.
- Protects creativity.
- Invites connection.
- Makes bad situations better and solutions easier.
Respect lets people know they matter.
What makes you feel disrespected? Respected?
How might leaders show respect?
Project: Intentionally show respect to one person before lunch.
3 Ways to be Liked and Respected
*The Price of Incivility, Harvard Business Review
The Lived Experience of Feeling Disrespected
Previously Published on leadershipfreak.
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At The Good Men Project, we are glad to share selected work from Leadership Freak, a publication focused on leadership, workplace relationships, communication, and the everyday habits that shape how people work together. We do not believe the workplace is a separate sphere from the rest of life. The way people lead, listen, praise, correct, and share power at work affects families, mental health, dignity, and the wider culture people carry home with them at the end of the day.
That is one reason this kind of writing matters to us. Reimagining masculinity also means reimagining work: what we reward, what we normalize, what we ask people to sacrifice, and whether leadership is measured by control or by care. We are interested in workplaces where people are treated equitably, where leadership is more humane and less performative, and where success does not automatically require giving away your health, your relationships, or your sense of security. Advice on leadership may seem small compared with those larger goals, but culture often changes through repeated daily behavior. How people treat one another in ordinary moments matters. It matters a lot.
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