No matter where you are in the world, people are people and we all have one thing in common, we want respect: Respect our time. Respect our space. Respect our talents and most of all respect our opinions. With social media, it’s no different. If you want to win with people then you must engage the respect factor.
For all intended purposes, respect isn’t a one size fits all for all involved. There are variations to respect. For instance, there is a difference in the respect you have for your favorite author, mentor or entertainer than you would for your colleague or friend. You respect your colleague and friends but you “really-really” respect your mentor and favorite authors.
Webster’s New World Dictionary tells us that respect can be achieved on three levels:
1. High regard. When you show a feeling of high regard or high esteem for someone or something this is the crème de la crème of respect. This is the mentor, favorite actor, and artist level. Everyone usually engages on this level. We all have our favorites.
2. Courteous regard. To show consideration for; avoid intruding upon or interfering with. This is a tough one because everyday my DM box is filled with different offers from people I don’t even know. This is what I call intruder. They want to force me to take their free gift. However, this is tricky because what I call an intruder someone else may welcome. So instead of sending them a nasty-gram, it might serve you better to decline gracefully or say nothing at all.
3. Dutiful regard. To have a dutiful regard is more or less the law or some unspoken rules of engagement. For instance, you may tell someone thank you for re-tweeting your tweet. It’s out of a sort of dutiful respect that you thank them. You don’t have to – especially if you don’t care but it’s your duty to acknowledge them if one of your goals is to win with people.
You see when you really engage the respect factor –you can’t go wrong. I’d like to leave you with three tips to help you amp up the respect factor in your social media activities.
1. Affirm and appreciate what others are doing or saying. It’s pretty tough to go unnoticed if you, yourself are affirming or appreciating others. This is what John Maxwell, one of my favorite authors calls the Triple “A” Treatment. Attention, Affirmation and Appreciation is a winning formula for winning with people.
2. Add value for the heck of it. Find ways to add value to others for the heck of it (without any attachment to the outcome) because if you do this for enough people the right people will reciprocate by hiring you, or referring you to someone else.
3. Let people know that you need them. In spite of the spike in self-centeredness that social networking promotes, there is a remnant of wanting to help you. All leaders “need” followers and that’s a fact. You need their opinions and interactions. Don’t be afraid to show it or say it.
Go ahead and activate your winning formula and amp up your respect factor in social media.
