Virtue:
Respect
Other names:
Definition:
Our duty to respect those worthy of honor
Advice:
"spend time with people who inspire [you]" (Corley #5)
Empirical Research:
Case examples:
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Further reading:
Vices opposed:
Case Study (Part 1)
ReplyDeleteIn her autobiography, Tough Choices, Carly Fiorina explains how a failure to appreciate the importance of the virtue of respect almost derailed an overseas business deal she was involved in between AT&T and STET.
"STET was the government entity that owned the Italian telephone companies as well as Italtel. As such, our negotiations encompassed network services and systems issues. From my perspective, this meant that both AT&T Long Lines and Network Systems had interests in these discussions, so I was representing both of them. When I wasn’t negotiating in Italy, I was negotiating in New Jersey, trying to find a solution that would satisfy all parties. We had achieved this accord, but now an executive vice president from Long Lines decided to come to Rome to solidify his part of the deal we’d reached.
"His first mistake was to pick a date that was convenient for him because it occurred in the middle of an already planned visit to Europe. Unfortunately, it coincided with one of the many national holidays in Italy. When our STET counterparts objected to the date, the EVP’s staff sent word back that this was a crucial meeting and the only time possible. The Italians canceled their holiday out of respect for this executive vice president—whom they had never met. When he arrived, he brought with him some staff members he hadn’t warned them about. This was his second mistake.
"We sat at a square table in a conference room. The AT&T executive sat opposite the Italians. He said STET was an important partner, and he appreciated the meeting. I believe he sincerely meant it, but from the Italians’ point of view, everything he did contradicted those words. He read from a set of notes. He rarely made eye contact. He didn’t engage in social chitchat. He talked a great deal about the purpose of his broader trip and the relationships he was crafting with other partners. When an hour had passed, he indicated that the meeting was over. He said he had no time to join his STET counterpart out on the terrace to enjoy the view of Rome and the Vatican along with a glass of wine. And this last mistake only added to the disastrous nature of the meeting he had just conducted. It wasn’t the substance of what he’d said that was the problem. It was how he’d said it, how he’d behaved, and how he’d treated them. (Fiorina, Tough Choices, ch. 12)
Case Study (Part 2)
ReplyDelete"When the executive and his entourage had departed, the Italians exploded. I had never seen them angry like this before. I tried in vain to calm them down and focus them on the substance of his words, but they were insulted in the extreme. All the progress we had worked so hard to achieve vanished. They declared that they could not do business with a company that behaved in this way, and they would have to 'reconsider' our agreements. We spent many more months trying to regain lost ground; but it was never the same again, and the agreement we’d had eluded us. The agreement we eventually achieved was less advantageous to AT&T, and we’d lost a lot of time.
"Companies are big, abstract entities. People don’t do important business with a company; they do business with people who represent that company and can commit its resources and support. And people the world over do business with people they trust and respect. To some of us, the Italians’ reaction might seem petty, but trust and respect mean different things in different cultures. Trust in the United States might be built through a detailed legal contract. Respect might come through a difficult, protracted set of negotiations, where each party learns how vigorously the other will defend its ground. In Italy, trust and respect are built through time while enjoying the good things in life together, with proper attention paid to the details of gentility.
"If you want to conduct effective negotiations, know whom you’re dealing with. Pay them respect by respecting what’s important to them, and take the time to build trust. Trust and respect are the foundation for successful agreements and the emotional glue that binds people together during disagreements." (Fiorina, Tough Choices, ch. 12)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn Everyone's a Coach, Don Shula explains the importance of honoring the worthy accomplishments of his players and subordinates. "Recognizing good performance is an important part of my coaching. I like to recognize our players in front of their peers. My coaches and I will stop and give a player a pat on the back or recognize a great team effort on the spot, but we'll usually repeat the feedback at a team meeting to give our players full recognition. I believe in spreading praisings (sic) out so that every contributor receives attention. The actions of the offensive backs, ends, linebackers, and defensive halfbacks are pretty obvious to everyone, but what about those unsung heroes in some of the less visible positions? For example, special teams [players who only go on the field during kicking plays] traditionally go unnoticed by sports fans. As head coach, I can't afford to let this happen.
"Years ago I started a meeting pattern to help recognize the less-publicized players. The day after a ball game, our team and coaches review our performance. I will make some opening remarks to the squad, critiquing what happened during the game - good, bad, or otherwise. Then the entire squad views the game films that focus on our special teams. We use this time to create opportunities for players to appreciate each other's efforts. It makes special team players feel they are an important part of the team when a star like Dan Marino says, 'Hey, that was a great hit!' After the squad meeting, the team breaks up into groups according to the players' positions. Each group reviews its own game films, and the head coach in each area - together with the players - provides the appropriate recognition, as well as any necessary criticism for that small group." (Blanchard and Shula, Everyone’s a Coach, p. 130)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn Made in America, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton explains the importance of honoring employees for their accomplishments. "Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. A paycheck and a stock option will buy one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often, and especially when we have done something we're really proud of. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free - and worth a fortune." (Walton, Made in America, pp. 315-16)