Respect in the Office: Confronting the Right Thing

Management Organizational culture Respect

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I got a little fired up today. I had an exit interview with a team member and one of the expressed reasons for leaving was the disrespectful behavior of this person’s direct supervisor. Ok… So now I have to investigate and validate the data…And I can guarantee you that I’m going to carefully review this. We cannot treat each other disrespectfully and be a great company.

So here’s what I’m going to do… I want to know if this supervisor does personally make disparaging remarks about people. If this is the case, we are going to put the person through a leadership class on respect …teaching them how to confront behavior, confront situations, but never people. Working with respect involves a series of attributes and skills. Attacking the process and not the individual person is just one of them.

with Character,

Lorne

Climbing to the Top of the Character Triangle

Abundance Kindness Resilience

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Erik Weihenmayer has climbed every major summit in the world. This is an incredible feat in its own right but Erik makes this accomplishment astounding due to the fact that he is blind. You’ve probably all imagined the difficulty in climbing Mt. Everest… But climbing it blind? Erik has accomplished that. Now that’s character!

Erik embodies every element of the Character Triangle. When he became unexpectedly blind as a teenager, he could have blamed the world. Instead he asked himself “what?” and “how?” he might respond. How about deciding to climb every major challenge in the world? Now that is self-accountability.

Erik’s life teaches us about respect by the way he prepares for every climb. He respects each peak and pays homage by the preparation and attention to detail. Additionally, he ropes up with every person on his team. He listens to each peak and the teams that help him reach it.

When it comes to being abundant, Erik also sets the bar. In Tibet, blindness is a basis for discrimination. When Erik became aware of this, he responded by embracing blind Tibetan kids and teaching them to climb…the pinnacle being Everest. Now that’s being abundant.

If you want to learn about someone who embodies the CT, read Erik’s book Touch the Top of the World and check out one of his videos here.

with Character,

Lorne

Aces in the Office

Gratitude Organizational culture Respect

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For the past few years, I’ve made a point to include ACES as part of the fabric of Ryzex, where I serve as CEO.

When someone at Ryzex wants to thank or recognize anyone in the office, they send them an ACE. One side of the card is a thank you for exceptional performance. It takes just a couple of minutes to write a note on the face of the ACE, recognizing the person’s accomplishment, and send it along. Over the last few years, thousands of ACES have been exchanged and proudly displayed by team members.

The foundation of sending ACES is based on the value of Respect. One has to be present enough to observe the positive contribution of others. Then it takes a moment to write it down and send it. As it most often is with giving, the sender often receives more than he/she gives.

Do you send and receive “ACES” or something similar?

with Character,

Lorne

Kindness as Strength

Kindness Organizational culture Respect

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Is it possible to be “kind” in today’s world? Won’t you get eaten up and spit out if not swallowed whole? Somebody posed this question the other day and its worth reflecting on. My contention is that being kind is part of the value of Respect; one of the key elements of the Character Triangle. So does being kind mean being weak? Absolutely not.

Being kind is actually a state of strength. It usually means you are present; aware of your surroundings. You can see and sense how to interact in a kind and polite way. But being nice doesn’t mean being a pushover – on the contrary. You can disagree and even point out inappropriate behavior in a direct and tough-minded way. The key is to focus on the behavior and not to imply or state a negative view of the person as an individual. Calling you a jerk doesn’t help when you cut me off in traffic. You likely didn’t even know you did or you had some other situation distract you. But once I call you a jerk and you flip me off, well things get personal.

If someone raises their voice in anger at you, you are within your rights to firmly state that this behavior is not acceptable. If this person wants to have a constructive dialogue with you they can be angry and they can be tough, but they can still be kind. The action of being kind usually disappears when one treats others in a way that attacks or ignores their sense of being. When actions toward others are rude, insensitive and /or oblivious; it is not kind. Nor is it in my opinion, necessary. Nice guys do win and in my opinion, in order to do so they have to be the toughest and strongest people of all.

My historical observation is that those people considered unkind are also least successful in the long run. They are often the most fearful and insecure. They make others feel bad to momentarily feel better. Who do you like to spend time with and work with? Kind people.

Be respectful. Be kind. Be tough.

with Character,

Lorne

Self Accountability – A Lost Art?

Accountability Authenticity Growth mindset

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Frank Rich, the lead Op-Ed writer for the New York Times, on Sunday April 11th, wrote an article questioning whether self-accountability has all but disappeared as a value. Mr. Rich opines on the matter by referring to the blame and finger pointing mastered by many, from Alan Greenspan to of course, Tiger Woods. It seems like everyone has something or somebody to blame. I see this regularly in the everyday workplace as well.

None of us is perfect. But how about each of us taking more responsibility for our own actions and then personally doing something to correct the situation. No blame. No excuses. Accept the situation. Own up to mistakes. Take personal action to fix ourselves first. If we all did that we would model self-accountability as a leadership trait. No need to hire spin masters.

with Character,

Lorne