As my responsibilities grow, I get to witness lot more interactions, and many a times have felt like sharing this thought. Hopefully I can pen this in a useful manner and make a note for myself as well.
What is respect?
Respect is a level of appropriateness that is required in every action that we undertake while dealing with another person. The action can be an email, or a message or a discussion or just a hi while passing in the corridor. It has to be maintained irrespective of our mood or feelings towards the person. While, it is human to be upset or not like a person, but the way we behave has to be at par with the respect that is due. Its unconditional.
Who to respect?
There are three types of people that I consider respect worthy, those who are healthy, wealthy and wise. Any individual with any one of these deserves respect. Lets look at the three qualities one by one.
Who is wise?
As we grow older, we learn somethings that we are good at, some that we think we will never be or want to be. Everyone we deal with has gone through this cycle and is what he or she is. We have to respect it. Think of the office boy or maid, they respect us for our money or our skills that they don't have. Do we want to do their job? Can we? In professional life, e.g. sales people can think sales is everything, but that designer who designed the brochure is critical for our success, respect is due. Designers may think, we are greatest, but think of the person who actually sold or delivered the product one designed, a design isn't worth anything till it is put in its rightful place. Respect everyone whose job we can't do or don't want to. Its integral to functioning of the world or society or organization.
Why healthy?
In the world today, when people have different reasons to die early, a person who has lived for more years than I have, is healthy for me. Age is something that we can never equal. We can't be as old as our parents ever, neither can we catch up to the old man who blessed us before our very first big break in life. It takes a lot to age. The trouble that a 5 year old goes to be 6, or a 13 year old goes to be an adult, or an adult goes to be a partner or a parent or a manager, is something that we can only appreciate as much. Age deserves respect.
and wealthy... really?
Now that's a tough one. There are two types of wealth, self earned and inherited. Generally self earned is easier to accept (or not). Is inherited wealth as good? In hindu mythology the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, is placed at par with Kali (goddess of power) and Saraswati (goddess of education). Wealth, in essence, is a form of power, it comes with its own set of responsibilities. If one doesn't deliver on the responsibilities, the power will wane. That's the law of nature. We don't know how they are delivering on their responsibilities. So, if someone has wealth, it is a sign of responsibility the person is carrying. It deserves its respect.
How to respect?
The "how" part of respect varies across cultures, context and ages. We can learn from others and experiment our own ways to show respect. I will leave this for the individual to decide. The only thing to keep in mind is that anything that is done is considered part of respect, intentional or unintentional.
In retrospect...
I can easily remember a recent instance where I did not respect a person who has more than one of these respect worthy qualities. It has been months since, but I still am not able to get over it. I promised myself, never to let myself slip again. This post is a reminder to me.
