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 3^rd 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