Respect is an important and sometimes confusing aspect of relationships and one’s character. Many people debate whether respect is earned, or a basic treatment of all people.

My honest opinion? I can see both sides in their own ways. Let me explain, basic respect you should show everyone is simply having manners. Say a stranger walks up to you and asks for directions? If you’re a local or have the ability to assist then do so, if not then politely say so.

On the other side you have respect that needs to be earned. This is a belief that I feel strongly about. If you want to be respected as a leader then you need to conduct yourself in a respectable manner. This means treating workers well, encouraging, and trusting your workers.

In this article, I’ll tackle one of the most common places we run into the question of “Am I being respectful and respected?”

The Workplace

The first respect scenario that comes to mind is inside the workplace. In most cases you have many different positions that differ in seniority and the chain of command. I’ll start off with saying that my belief holds true in the workplace, everyone deserves a certain level of respect. Remember that the level of respect given is often returned and you may want to keep that in mind, especially when talking to your superiors in the company. That does not mean to treat your inferiors (helpers, minions, laborers, whatever you want to call them) with less respect.

If you’re in a position of authority over other people take care to not abuse that power. Respect your workers and they will perform tenfold over workers that are not treated well. Be sure to encourage, support, and even lend a helping hand sometimes. I was recently put in charge of my own crew at my day job. It felt great to be respected by my manager/boss, that they had enough faith in my capabilities to lead others. One of the things that I’ll always remember is to treat my workers how I would’ve liked to be treated. Yes, that’s a really cheesy way of putting it, but it’s true. All people in a position of authority, were just workers at some point in time. If they remember their roots they will continue to “climb the ladder” and succeed. One of my favorite sayings is:

“A leader works in the open and the boss in covert; The leader leads, the boss drives.”

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Many times you will get better results from helpers when they feel well respected by you and other superiors. Onto the tricky ones; superiors, you definitely never want to disrespect them!

Contrary to inferiors, you probably won’t get the advances and matched respect from superiors until you EARN it. Now I haven’t been out in the workforce for even a decade yet, but I learned very early that if you want to “climb the ladder,” get raises, and respect from your boss/manager then you need to show them that you are capable, determined, and WANT TO LEARN! So many times I hear people saying that they “need” or “deserve” a raise yet they don’t show up on time, call off more than once a month, and don’t care to help the team by learning more skills. The lesson is to show the superiors that you deserve their respect and that you are worthy of a raise.