Respect

I have had the unique opportunity of speaking to more than 35 users in an organization to understand their problems as a part of an assignment I did lately. Being on the other side is an interesting experience in human psychology.

Within the first 5 minutes of your interaction, you are generally aware how forthcoming the person is going to be. Especially since it was a voluntary effort on everyone’s part, some people opened up, while others expressed their displeasure assuming that it was a completely futile exercise. Some people were arrogant while few others questioned my competency.

However, one thing I realized during the entire assignment was – respect can’t be demanded, it has to be earned. I mean, I would only respect someone if that person is in a position to deserve it. In today’s world just being a senior doesn’t automatically entitle you to “respect”. Only when you open your mouth and make sense is the time we start respecting you.

This also means that as an individual, it has become important for us to be humble and let our knowledge do the talking and not our position. It is funny how few a people actually comprehend this.