Every one of us needs respect. And this is true at home and at work. In most, if not all, of the focus groups I have facilitated over the past fifteen years, the lack of respect is identified as a critical issue in the workplace. We know when we have respect and we know when we don’t have respect. Whenever I hear the word respect, I am always connected to Aretha Franklin singing, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me” People in today’s workplace are literally crying out for respect for who they are, for what they do and for what value they bring to the organization.

In many off-site meetings with client management teams, I include team exercises to address the issue of respect and to build a stronger degree of respect among the management team and a stronger sensitivity to the need for respect in the workplace. And in business coaching sessions, respect and the need to demonstrate respect are common discussion topics. So how do we and how can we demonstrate respect where we work and while we work there? There are some simple and very powerful actions to demonstrate respect. Here is a top ten (10) list of tips from your business coach on how to demonstrate respect.

1. Praise people more often than you criticize people. Foster an environment to encourage praise and recognition from one person to another, regardless of their position in the company.

2. Encourage a culture of being open-minded so co-workers will express their opinions and ideas without fear of immediate rejection or ridicule.

3. Treat each person with courtesy, kindness, and good manners.

4. Listen and hear what people say before expressing your thoughts.

5. Treat others as they wish to be treated.

6. Acknowledge and credit ideas that improve the workplace and the workers.

7. Be responsive to communications and requests in a timely manner.

8. Honor meetings, introductions and everyone’s time.

9. Never resort to using insults, name-calling or other “put down” tactics.

10. Treat each person equally and fairly no matter what his or her age, ethnicity, gender, religion or size.

Obviously there are many other ways to demonstrate respect at work and while working. The above list is what I consider to be the top ten from a business coach’s viewpoint. If you have other tips you would like to share or if you would like to learn how to build up respect within your workplace, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website below.