Native Business: Respect vs. Success

By Jim Stanley

For Puyallup Tribal News
Published on: July 24, 2008

I’d like to stress how important a person's mindset is in business. The way one responds to people has a significant impact on the trajectory of one’s career.

To illustrate my point I’ll compare mindsets focused on respect and success. A person that wants respect first and foremost likes to demonstrate their self worth and are less receptive to others’ suggestions or needs.

This mindset talks more and listens less to utilize their abilities and experience to their audience instead of focusing on picking up the information a customer offers. Even if this person is very talented they will be at a disadvantage to a competitor that is looking for success.

A mindset focused on success puts other needs first and intent on listening to gain knowledge that will help them achieve their goal. A mind focused on success is open to others’ input and criticism. This does not mean taking criticism is easy. It means that their outside information provided is at least acknowledged and considered.

A great example of respect vs. success in the work place is a story that my wife experienced first hand. She was working in her group for a long time and her boss left the company and someone new came into the role.

This particular person thought that her grand title gave her many privileges that others did not have. Instead of coming into the group and getting to know everyone and seeing what their job entailed and how it tied in with hers, she just started demanding things be done a certain way, completely different than how it was done before.

It is not a bad thing to do things different than before, but the way that she went about the changes were such that she demanded people do so and didn’t care about feedback or how it affected anyone else and their job. She wanted things her way and that was it, made no effort to see how the changes affected others, she just knew what was easiest for her.

The work environment got pretty bad and it was obvious no one liked working for this individual and her demanding attitude. So one day she asked my wife why she thought no one liked her and why she was

having such a hard time getting along with everybody in this new group.

My wife stated bluntly how no one respected the way she was handling her new role and point blank she replied back, “my title demands respect, I don't need to earn it.”

Needless to say, she didn’t last much longer in the group. With an attitude like that you will never make it far in the workplace because no one will respect you, even if you think it is a given.

Cousin, I am hopeful you see how your mindset can affect your desired outcome when dealing with people.

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