Respect

Hey team, all right, so here we are, Monday. It is Monday, Monday Message. And I read a quote earlier by Aretha Franklin. Some of you guys might remember her; she was a singer a while back. So, some of you might not have ever heard any of her songs, or you have and you just don’t even know that. I’m not sure. “We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white – it’s our basic human right.” Aretha Franklin.

So, I kind of agree with that because when I think of the word respect. I’ve talked about this in leadership. We talk about this in Verbal Judo – when it really boils down to why are so many people in prison? Well, sometimes it’s because of that word or the lack of that word. We feel not respected. Why have so many people gotten a divorce? Right now, I think it is somewhere right around 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce. As a man that is coming up on his 30th year, I know that relationships are hard. I’ve been married for 30 years, just about, here in a few months, and I can tell you honestly that relationships are tough.

Sometimes, you don’t always agree on everything, and working with team members and having leaders around – Greg has been around at Northwest Enforcement for the better part of a decade and a half. And I’ll be honest with you, we have not always agreed, and Greg will tell you the same thing. He”ll say Chad is hard-headed. So, it is tough, but it’s about that respect. I respect Greg, and Greg respects me. We respect each other’s positions and we respect each other’s place in life and where we’re coming from. The same thing with Karen. And usually, the problem exists between even two people, even between me and Greg and stuff, is when we feel maybe disrespected.

Greg could easily feel, and I imagine there have been times because I’m not perfect – I know I’m not perfect – that I’m not listening very well to what Greg is trying to say and what he’s trying to mean. And he may very well feel not respected in his position. Same thing with Karen or Sonja or Kate or anybody else on the team. Respect is an important factor. And when we drop or feel that the other party in this situation is not respecting us, that’s when we sometimes get hurt. Our emotions rise up, and how we handle those emotions, which I talked about, I think it was last week, matters greatly.

I’ve had people storm out and walk away. I’ve had people leave because they’re really ticked off because of how they feel in an emotionally charged situation and stuff because they feel disrespected. And I’ll be honest with you, there are times I’ve been wrong. I have been wrong in the situation. And I want you to hear this. I have been right about the answer and wrong about how to convey it because of my lack of respect in how I convey it. Being right doesn’t matter if you can’t convey it properly. You can still do as much harm, if not more harm, in that situation.

So, I want you to understand – you might be right, but your delivery sucks, and people can’t hear through the way you deliver, and therefore, the lack of respect in this relationship is getting you nowhere. I’ll let that resonate for a second because it’s true. I, for example, in my own life, have hurt people and been right, and it doesn’t necessarily make it right because the delivery matters too. So, respect even in disagreement, respect the other person and let them feel respected. And I’m speaking to myself right now. I feel a little convicted because there have been mistakes even recently where I have not been great at my delivery. It’s a pet of mine, a problem of mine that I must keep mastering.

So, I guess the biggest recipient of this – and when this airs on YouTube in about a week or so – when this actually comes out, I need to hear this. So, Chad, respect your co-workers, respect your wife, respect your kids, respect your client, respect those around you. Okay, Chad, that’s a good message. You’re right, Chad. It is a good message. Okay, so I’m talking to myself now. It’s super early in the morning. I do this a lot. But guys, God bless you, and it’s a powerful message. So, I want you to think on that. Respecting other people doesn’t matter who you’re talking about, even when you’re right. How you deliver that message, even if it’s factual and correct, says a lot about whether or not they’re going to receive it because of the respect you have for them, regardless of being right or wrong.

All right, God bless you guys. Be valuable because nothing less will do, and the more we respect one another and humble ourselves using our core values – we will accomplish a lot more in this life. See you guys next week.