RESPECT takes on a whole new meaning

I’m reading a book right now called Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide.  Its kind of a tiny book with an attractive cover-caught MY eye anyway.   I can tell the author, Amy Schuen, is trying to make her topic understandable to us lay folk, but she speaks that language that is really only familiar to people deep in the field and really pretty much at the graduate level.  Sometimes, I have to reread sentences over and over to catch what a certain term means- terms like application programming interfaces (API), platform services, scaling intuition, Syndication, Burn Rate and J-Curve. 

Now typically you think that someone who writes on such a topical subject, who seems so much more intelligent than you, and really IS giving good (even great) information would command the greatest respect from her readers…and I am sure that the author of this book does- in a lot of circles.  But I have to admit, she’s losing mine.  Why you might ask?

I started thinking back to a conversation that I had with my aunt Nan a few weeks ago.   She retired from the Post Office after many years of dutiful service (for which she admits she made some enemies being a union rep for part of that time).  But what she told me sticks in my mind .  It was so very simple, but oh so profound when you relate it to business.  She said, “I won’t work for someone I don’t respect.”    hmmmm.

With my respect problem bubbling up for this author, images of her as my manager kept coming to mind.  Someone who stands in front of me using lingo that she knows makes me feel stupid because I’m not “in the know” yet, who looks down her nose and gets impatient with my slowness in comprehension, and starts to get that tone and finally says, “JUST DO IT!”  I could be all wrong… but how can I tell my imagination its all wet? ( I didn’t say intuition, I said imagination )

As a manager of people, you want them to do their work well, do it correctly and own it.  Are you achieving that?  What kind of respect are you earning?  Yes, I said EARNING.  Despite what you might think, respect is earned.  Oh sometimes, as a manager, you  can start out with respect from that fresh, green newbie under your wing, but you can lose it quickly.  Yes you are higher in rank than them.  Yes you may know more than them.  Yes Yes Yes.  But don’t forget the goal:  to get them to do what is needed, to do it correctly, and do it well, hopefully with a smile on their face.  Happy workers are much better workers!

Here’s how to get it- RESPECT that is:

R-remind yourself what it feels like when someone tells you that you’ve done a good job.  Try to give those who work for you that same feeling.

E-Elevate their sense of value by asking for their input on something they do day in and day out; what works best, fastest, easiest and try to incorporate their suggestions.

S-Spare them from your bad moods, difficult situations, stress.  Play the part of sensible, trustworthy, ‘like a rock’ mentor even when you don’t feel like it.

P-Prepare them for upcoming news, jobs to be completed, needs.  They’ll feel ‘in-the-know’ and part of the team and thus part of the solution.

E-Edit your speech.  If you use lots of expletives, bad grammar, sharp and degrading language, you lose respect from those who are supposed to follow you.  Instead, be an example of someone to look up to.

C-Credit them to upper management in front of them when credit is due.  What better way can you earn their respect and cooperation?

T-Tell them what needs to be corrected in a non-humiliating, non-threatening manner in private and tell them you know they can do well at correcting the problem. 

And Read, Read, Read management books.  I’ve read lots of them and have picked out a few of my favorites.  Check them out on my linkedin page at http://www.linkedin.com/in/tonisholty and see if there are any you might be interested in. 

As far as Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide goes?  I’m having a hard time!  But hey, I like to learn… and grow my synapses, so I’ll keep reading..and the second time I read it, I’ll be one of those ‘in the know’ and blow right through those pages with complete comprehension! She’s not any smarter than me!  [This is a spoof from my last blog.  You might want to read it if you didn't get the sarcasm .] 

Now get out there and get some respect!

Blogout!

Ok World…Blogging and a GEM of a read?

Ok.  I have resisted and resisted..but its futile.  The interface of technology and communication keeps knocking me on the forehead (or back of the head) and as much as I feel like a baby taking its first steps, awkward and unsteady, but curious and energized by what I am about to discover through this ‘blogging’ thing, I know that I must not resist anymore, and have to take the plunge to join the millions of others who have something valuable to say (or not so valuable-depending on your own view of it).   Cuz I have valuable stuff to contribute!!!  So, here I am, introducing MY FIRST BLOG…

Do you remember when you first heard the word “BLOG”?  I thought, “ew, that’s a really UGLY word!”  It really is, you know.  Ranks right up there with, I don’t know…maybe the word “snot”?  Maybe if it were a more elegant, refined, classy sounding word, I might have paid more attention to it at first.  But everyone was talking about it…and it just wouldn’t go away.  So I started (almost secretly -because no one should know that I am really curious about this ‘blog’ thing after all) exploring peoples’ blogs.  My husband is a huge, HUGE fan of Bob Wilbur’s NHRA  blog, and Bob does have a great blog!  Doug would say, Toni, come read Bob’s blog this week, and I ‘d roll my eyes and act reluctant to look at it.  But in reality, I WAS curious and liked reading it!  Ok there, I admit it now!  HAPPY???? I’ve also really enjoyed reading Matt Griffith’s blogs (AskMattOnline) too because they are so current and focused giving the reader clearer guidance in the world of business ownership (and law I guess -as much as I abhor that area)  Thanks Matt! Oh, and for all those others who write exceptional blogs,  don’t get your panties in a wad.  I’ll get to you someday…theres only so many hours in the day…and I am just a tot right now at this blogging gig!

By the way, I am hoping that those who are still ‘in the closet’  [you know who you are...] about their own curiosity and interest in blogging but still have a stupifying lack of knowledge about it in general will find comfort that someone is finally admitting to the world how they nodded in agreement with others who were already savvy in the ’social media’ world acting as if they knew exactly what that savvy person was talking about…using all those weird words (twitter, blog, podcasts, YouTube, Voiceover IP) that “special” people know…only to feel like a deer in the headlights.  >Don’t ya just hate it when someone shows off by speaking to you in that social media lingo like you’re just as educated on it as they are with that smug smile on their face? 

Anyway, this kinda feels like all those tabu subjects, too, where as soon as a large, banded group of people sharing something in common or a celebrity comes out and says that whatever it is-they have….then all of a sudden its ok to admit that happened to you to and to talk about it?  Well…I admit it….I am just beginning blogging.  I don’t have 165 blog postings, 145568 views, 593 friends on Facebook or 92 Recommendations on LinkedIn.  But that doesnt mean I don’t have something to say that can help or benefit someone else.  So keep reading and find out what happens next!

I’m going to provide you with little “GEMS” of helpful information to use in your interactions with people, leadership skills, and getting the ‘buy-in’ from your people at work (and play maybe ).  GEM= GET EVERY MORSEL

 Let me know what you think!

blogout!