Why Great Leaders Earn their Respect Everyday

Two incidents took place this week that disturbed me tremendously, and from the look of it, they are not one-off incidents. In the first instance, I was standing in line waiting to cash some stuff I picked up at the supermarket. 

One of the supervisors stopped one of the guys on the floor and said to him, in full view of everyone in the waiting area. “How could you forget the stuff I ask you for, you don’t use your brain” now I felt pretty awful for the guy because the tone the lady use was disgusting and anyone looking on could see the embarrassed look on his face. 

The following day I stopped to buy a box of chicken and chips for my babysitter, and while waiting, I notice the young lady at the counter; I have this habit of observing my surroundings especially when it comes to watching people and their interaction with other people. The young lady at the counter said to the manager, “excuse me I need to go for lunch I have been waiting for a long time,” the manager shouted.“well go”; shouted! I was utterly shocked, and I ask myself how in heaven's name can someone with that type of attitude become responsible for people. 

It was very disturbing, especially for someone who believes in employees well being, inspiration, motivation, emotional intelligence, etc. One can deduce that these people are not being mentored to lead and are not given the necessary training to lead and have absolutely no people skills. But do you know what is even more disturbing, many people believe this type of behavior is typical. Typical for their manager to verbally abuse them, normal to work in an environment of distrust and deceit or to engage in gossip or to look for self-preservation at the expenses of everything and everyone. 

This is not normal. 

Many of these managers expect and in many instances demand respect from their direct reports like if it is some form of entitlement. Great leaders don’t demand respect; they don’t have too, people will naturally follow them because of their leadership skills and their ability to inspire and motivate people. 

If a manager has no respect for their team, how can you expect any respect in return? They will follow their instructions because of their position on the org chart, but they will not support them voluntarily and all trust will be lost. When all trust is broken down, a company can never function at an optimum level, the company will experience a high level of employee turnover, and that company will be average at best. 

All Companies should invest in the development of their people. Leadership training should be mandatory for everyone, not the executive or middle management or the people favored by management; everyone! When faced with insurmountable challenges, many of us would throw in the towel, feel rejected and defeated. 

This is where leaders rise above the pack, find some way to keep going and inspire their team to believe that the impossible is possible. This is fundamentally why great leaders don’t demand respect, they lead by example and earn their respect each and every day. 

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