There are numerous books, articles, etc. that talk about how managers need to earn the respect of both those that report to them and those they report to. Well duh. This article is not yet another on this all too obvious fact.
What is equally important is that a manager respects the people that work for him/her. And yet, this gets way too little attention. All too many managers assume respect is a one-way street where respect is tendered on to them, but there is no need for reciprocation. And that has a significant impact on productivity and creativity – both key issues in today's economy.
I never realized how devastating this could be until I worked at a start-up (years ago) where the CEO clearly did not respect the programmers. And the programming staff returned that contempt, and then some. Now everyone was very professional. And the CEO tried very hard to fake it. But the end result was not pretty.
So what was the fallout? Day to day not much, because we rarely saw him. And when we did, most conversations were perfunctionary. But on some key issues for the company it was a disaster. When interviewing a potential VP every single developer gave the person a strong thumbs down. He hired them without even speaking to the concerns raised by everyone which started the VP out on the wrong foot. And this hire was such a disaster that less than 6 months later they were invited to leave.
If you think about it, it stands to reason that if your are contemptuous of your employees, they will return that contempt.
It also makes it difficult to create new products, find new efficiencies, etc. The people involved assume that their input will be ignored, and as such they will not put in much effort to propose ideas that are then shelved. Add to that, the best ideas generally require an advocate who fights for them as really innovative ideas more often than not are dismissed at first. But someone cannot effectively advocate if they are dismissed.
There is also a major advantage that comes for two-way respect, and that is you can have much more direct conversations. If someone knows you respect tham and you tell them an idea they have is, in your opinion, a really bad idea – they know you are speaking to the idea and not their intelligence, worth, etc. It lets you honestly discuss proposals, products, etc without it bringing people's ego into the equation.
So, do you respect the people that report to you? If not, it's hurting you & your company – bad.
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