Rely on Respect to Ignite Innovation

Reflections on the Road to Respect

If you have had a chance to check out my web site lately, you might remember reading this on the home page. Bullying and harassment produce disconnected, fear based cultures where employees won’t speak up. And when employees are afraid to speak up, not only are costly problems going on unresolved, but innovative and creative ideas that will enhance your organizational effectiveness are being stifled.In Road to Respect, I talk about the fact that it is not the absence of disrespect in and of itself that creates superior business results. Rather it is the releasing of individual potential that a respectful workplace fosters that produces that outcome. Respectful, relationship based leadership creates an environment where people feel connected, where they want to contribute to their full potential and are empowered to do so.Last spring I was facilitating a respectful leadership session with a client with whom I have been working for the past couple of years. Given that Road to Respect leadership is relationship based, we spend a lot of time in those sessions focused on respectful communication: what it is and how to develop the skills that allow us to demonstrate it. We were working through a number of role play scenarios, intended to provide skill practice for the participants. The skills I want participants to learn are included in a written guide that each person receives. Practically speaking, what that means is that there is generally a lot of reading and page turning when we are doing these exercises. At one point, one of the participants spoke up and said, “You know, it would be really helpful if this stuff was available as an app. Then we would really be able to make use of it and access it when we need it.”Developing an app was something that had never occurred to me, however, as soon as this fellow said it the light went on. For years I have been providing my clients with materials in paper form because, when I started out 13 years ago that was the status quo. I talk to my clients about ensuring that workplace leaders put their materials in a binder that will be easily accessible when they need them. But let’s face it. Can you really pull out a binder when you are walking down the hall and overhear a disrespectful comment? Will you be able to access your binder when you are in someone else’s office? Will those paper materials be there to support you when you really need them? My goal is to have respectful communication become a workplace norm within my client’s workplaces, because it is that norm that lays the foundation for a respectful, relationship based culture. Next month I will have an downloadable tool that will greatly increase the possibility of that goal being achieved – the Road to Respect Speak Up E-Guide, the first in a series of new eBooks we have developed as a result of the comment I heard in that session last spring. You can have it on your iPhone or Android phone or your iPad so that the tips you need to speak up respectfully will be available whenever you need them.I purposefully structure my training sessions as an interactive conversation. I have been working for years to develop a presenting style that will encourage learners to be engaged and participatory. I know that the subjects I talk about; respect, disrespect, power, harassment, and bullying are not easy to talk about. I know that many of us would prefer to avoid talking about them.I also know that, as James Baldwin once said “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” If we want to eradicate destructive, disrespectful, power based behaviours in our workplaces, we have to start talking about them. My job is to provoke that conversation. I am strategic about building trust and relationship in my sessions. Before the sessions start I always take time to say a quick hello to everyone in the room, so that I have at least a brief mom

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