Ep 393: Respectful Leadership & Creating Positive Environments with Gregg Ward

Elzie Flenard engages in a compelling conversation with Gregg Ward, Founder of The Center for Respectful Leadership. From his youth to training police officers in handling emotionally disturbed individuals, Gregg advocates for respect in all aspects of life. Let’s explore how respect shapes law enforcement training, emphasizing assessing situations before action. Gain insights into metrics for mental health training. Uncover the need for proactive policing over reactive approaches.

In business, discover how respect fuels motivation, enhances team morale, and boosts customer satisfaction. Learn to build robust diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, avoiding tokenism. Embrace empathy as a vital leadership trait for inclusivity. Apply these principles to revamp relationships, both personal and professional. From law enforcement to business, respect’s impact is profound.

You’ll surely benefit if you implement Gregg Ward’s strategies for effective communication, diversity, inclusion, and fostering a respectful work culture. Listen and take the first step toward a more respectful world. Tune in now and witness the transformative influence of respect on your growth and success.

Episode Highlights:

05:43 – First, you got to assess. You can’t just run in and start hitting people over the head with your nightstick. You got to assess what’s going on here. You got to take a moment and pause and take a deep breath and take a look at the situation, because it’s not always as you assume it is. You just rush in. That’s going to get you in deeper trouble.

12:39 – So, we as employers have to realize that treating our employees with disrespect has huge implications not only for that individual employee, but also for how they treat their colleagues and how they treat their customers. So, all of our research tells us that if you have a culture where people treat each other with respect, that is going to have some significant positive bottom line impacts all the way from customer satisfaction, all the way to retaining your best and your brightest people.

16:45 – It’s imperative that people understand that our workplaces are more diverse than ever before in our history. And that is not going to change and we’re not going to go back to the way it was. And so, if we accept that our workplaces are diverse, we must accept that people are different and have different expectations around what respect is for them. And if we find out what those are and we meet those expectations, we’re likely to have a respectful environment.

22:28 – People are so resistant and we live in such a highly politicized environment now, where the very term “diversity” is now political and politicized, and it drives me nuts. And my focus is on respect, which is at the core of everything we do here. And if we can help folks understand how important respect is, regardless of who you are. If I treat you in a way that you consider respectful, that’s likely to turn out to be a good thing.

23:15 – We usually start with education. We help business leaders understand two things, that one, that respect and disrespect are feelings. They’re not part of rational cognitive thinking. And feelings are very, very important. Unfortunately, feelings tended to be downplayed or ignored in the workplace. But what we’re seeing now is being a part of a team where you feel respected and valued and trusted, and you could say something that’s a little bit contradictory of your boss and not get pilloried for it and not get in trouble for it. It’s called psychological safety. So, we start with education.

Connect with Elzie

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Contact Gregg Ward

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