I Can Respect That!
By CMSgt Sparks
As
many of you know, I recently was elected by my colleagues to represent them on
Metropolitan Community College’s Board of Governors. In this position I
represent the faculty both full time and adjunct to the Board during regular
meetings. Although this is a non-voting position, I can discuss issues with the
Board and feed information from the faculty to them and vice versa. In a
position like this, I have to listen and respect the views of everyone
involved. This gives a guiding point on diversity and how it fits into what we
do.
In
recent weeks there has been much discussion and debate on issues our Nation is
facing. Sometimes the representation in the media leads us to believe that some
have lost respect for the other person. For myself, it’s time for a sanity
check and to ask if I need to refocus.
First,
we need to ask, What is respect? For our purposes it is, “due regard for the
feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others.” i We could also
add values to this list. Everyone sees things from different perspectives, and
looking at anything from the other person’s perspective helps us to understand.
Trying to one-up or having an “I win, you lose” mentality doesn’t move the
organization or unit forward. But when diverse thoughts are considered, a
better solution is found that benefits the whole.
According
to the Chiesman Center for Democracy, there are respect Do’s and Don’ts:
Do:
· Treat others the way you want to be treated.
· Show tolerance and be accepting of differences (race,
culture, gender, educational, experiential and others).
· Be courteous and use good manners.
· Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements.
Don’t:
· Insult or make fun of others.
· Offend others with bad language.
· Threaten, hit or hurt anyone. ii
If
you look at it, these are common sense and common courtesies to use, but the
key is do we use these guidelines or look at making ourselves better than
others?
If
we consider the do’s and don’ts we can ask ourselves these questions and look
at how we can apply them this year.
1.
What do you do to
show respect?
2.
Can you think of
a time when you failed to do this?
3.
How might someone
show a lack of respect for himself/herself?
4.
Can you think of
someone who stands out by consistently demonstrating respectful behavior? What
effects does this have on his/her life? ii
These have a common thread of the relationship. If we
have a good relationship with someone, then the good-natured banter is normal,
but if we don’t have a relationship with the person, then it’s easy for someone
to feel they are being disrespected. This can create an environment that
inhibits productivity and impact our readiness and resiliency.
Taking stock of where we’re at and starting a new
year; we can look at ourselves and work to move our organization forward.
i New Oxford
American Dictionary 3rd Ed, 2010, Oxford University Press Inc.
ii Josephson Institute of
Ethics, “Showing Respect,” 2002, Chiesman Center for Democracy, 6 January 2013,
http://www.chiesman.org/pdfs/rccc912/ShowingRespect.pdf
