–

In conversations lately, people want respect, but seem clueless how to get it. I’ve found that the following go a long way toward inspiring genuine respect in all sorts of settings:

• Have integrity
• Be excellent at what you do
• Respect yourself
• Be rested, nourished, and inspired; take care of yourself
• Treat others with respect, whether you agree with their choices or not
• Be interested in others and ask about them
• Be civil, kind, and caring, not rude, reacting, or self-focused
• Be consistent, authentic, genuine
• Do not be hypocritical
• Do not compromise who you are for others
• Ask for what you want and need
• Do not be overly emotional or callous
• Expand your social group for more diversity
• Be proactive, and not defensive

Consider who you want respect from. Do they matter? Cynical people respect cynical people, while faithful people respect faithful people. Are you getting respect from your kind of people? If those that have very different values than you don’t respect you, it is about them and not about you.

Go for long term respect, not short term recognition.  Be sure to do things for the right reasons, not just to get others to respect you. Be true to yourself, and others who are courageous enough to be true to who they are, will respect that.

–