The deepest level of respect and honor I can give you is to see you as human being. The
reason why this is true is that we tend to judge others by how they appear to us, by their
roles, jobs, culture, etc. When I relate to you as my barber or trainer rather than first and
foremost as a human being, I dishonor you because I am not seeing your true value. You
are far more than what externally meets my eye. You are a person who possesses the
power of will, intelligence, and a potential for greatness. Because you are a human
being, you are special and deserving of great respect and honor.
When I honor you as a human being, I can always connect to you. I may not connect to
or appreciate how you appear, behave, or the role you play in life. You may not be my
type, but if this is how I see you, I will never see your essential value as a human being.
But I can always connect to you if I see we share a common humanity and are
fundamentally equal. The way to true respect is to see beyond a person’s outward
appearance in order to see and identify him or her with their true value.
Here are three ways to make sure you give people the true level of respect and honor they
deserve:
Always call people by name. For several months I greeted the security guard in our
building in a friendly way but not by name. When I learned his name and greeted him by
name it transformed the way I felt about him. He no longer was the security guard, he
became a real person.
When you write a text or email, don’t just go to the purpose of the text, “I need some
advice about this client. When can we talk?” This type of message says to the recipient,
you are the role or function you play in my life. This dishonors and devalues them. It is
disrespectful and demeaning. Rather be sure to start every text or email with some
genuine expression of recognition that you’re talking to a human being. “Hi Bill, I hope
you’re day is going well and you had a restful vacation. I was hoping to get together in
order to discuss….”
Always greet people with a warm and pleasant countenance. It sends the message that
you are a real person to me. You are important and matter. We always greet the people
in our life we respect and care about with a sincere smile.
These three simple behaviors will transform the way you feel about people and raise your
level of respect for them by helping to see them as real people.