Earning respect

The turn of phrase in and of itself, can be construed as an oxymoron, as there is a school of thought that suggests that once one has assumed a public persona, any notion of maintaining a personal image, goes out the window. This challenge has dogged not only public officials, but high ranked corporate representatives, celebrities, and other similar personalities. Certainly, in Trinidad and Tobago we have more than our fair share of incidents, stories, fables and realty TV styled episodes from which we can choose to distil this concept. The question remains, do persons in public life have the right to a private life?

This speaks directly to issues related to personal decorum. The Merriam Webster refers to decorum as the correct and proper behaviour that shows respect and good manners. As such, personal decorum refers to the demonstration of proper behaviour by the individual. This issue should ideally be viewed through two lenses, the first being the ethics lens, and the second being the policy based lens. On one side, the question may be asked, does public interest mean the same as what the public is interested in? Whereas for the business professional this may be viewed as does shareholder interest mean the same as what the shareholder may be interested in?

For example, at the hosting of the regularly scheduled annual general meeting, will the shareholder be interested in the rumours circulating about the CEO’s alleged abuse of power over his/her junior staff? An alternative perspective is that the stakeholders [both for the State and Private enterprise] have a right to know about the characters of those wielding power. A prime example that crosses both lines of Government and private enterprise is another of the current contenders for the United States Presidential race, Donald Trump. Mr Trump’s experience in the corporate world largely colours his experience in the management of his campaign.

The way in which he seemingly interacts and wields influence over those who are charged with the responsibility of shaping his political image, reveals a similarity to the manner with which his management style in his Corporate life can be viewed – simply, ‘my way or the highway’. Certainly, there will always be very solid arguments on both sides of the debate, however, when treating with state or shareholder resources, nothing but the highest levels of ethical standards and behaviour must be demanded and respected. Regardless of what transpires within the corporate or State walls at night, must be able to stand scrutiny within the day. The Corporate Executive’s role in a publicly traded organization is to protect, grow, and build the shareholders and stakeholders enterprise.

They are entrusted and resourced to ensure that the confidence placed in them will bear fruit for both the organization as well as the shareholder. As such, the Corporate Executive will most certainly be held to a higher and more stringent standard than those who may hold less responsibility. The saying that respect is earned and not worn rings true, in that even if you are in a position to wield power over your sub-ordinates, the way in which you present yourself, interact with others, treat your co-workers with respect, listen and respond to your staff and clients, certainly will add to your personal stock. What transpires when you leave the workplace should also be taken into consideration, as whether you like it or not, perception impacts profile. Always remember this.