In our series on leadership values have you noticed the overlap of some of the values?
I thought I would take some liberties with word play in this solo episode. Today’s leadership value is Respect. I’m putting it together with another leadership value Communication. The first two letters of Communication are Co. The first two letters of Respect are Re. Putting those letters together in one word, we get a CoRe value.
See what I did there?
How do we know what our values are? I’ve been telling you what research has identified as 14 Leadership Values, but how does one determine a set of personal values? If we work together in a coaching engagement, one of the optional activities is working through the Values Card Sort. I’ve used simple print outs of the values list but recently found a beautiful and colorful set of reusable values cards. I discovered them at REI of all places! You can purchase your own set at REI.com
When I can I like to point you to research that supports the work I share here. In this episode I refer to research that was conducted through Harvard Business School and shared within the Harvard Business Review (HBR). You can find the information regarding 7 Ways to Help Employees Feel Respected
For someone to feel respect you have to Communicate Respect. It is active. It is intentional.
There are three simple actions that will communicate respect to others:
- Actively Listen–give your attention to the person. Set aside what may distract you (your phone) and look at the person.
- Engage — ask for more understanding i.e. “I am curious about this topic, your perspective. Can you please say more so I can understand better?”
- Reflect — take a moment at the conclusion of their speaking to reflect back what you heard/learned from what they shared.
Using these three actions will communicate respect to the person in front of you.
Here are two questions for your consideration:
- How can you cultivate the practice of communicating respect to others?
- What do you do if you’re not being treated with respect?
