Breaking the stereotype of military commanders, Michele Bachelet, the former president of Chile showed unconventional respect to her subordinates in Military while she was Minister of Defense before being president. Talking to BBC Hardtalk, the current UN Human Rights Commissioner said she broke the convention of strict command chain of the military to show respect to her subordinates there. Many of her critics at the time opined that her way was not military-like and she would not be able to sway command through show of respect. However, she was not only successful to maintain command, she was also widely respected. The first female minister of defense and the first female president of the country could not afford to fail just because of her way of showing respect and value to everyone. Her failure would be pegged to her gender and people would say that she, being a woman, was not suitable for the tough jobs. The failure of any other male leader would be considered his personal failure but Michele's failure would be the failure of women as whole.
But succeed she did. She ran the defense ministry and then went on to be the head of the country for two terms. A towering achievement of any human being, even more so for a woman.
What Mrs. Bachelet has shown is that respect has to be earned rather than imposed. A respect that is imposed because of power or position is short term. That respect does not endure beyond the position of power and influence. That is only for the position and not for the person holding it. But what one need to aspire and work for is for the respect as a person. For that the person first needs to show respect to others. A person showing respect deserves being respected in return. Like love, respect is also a bidirectional process. You need to be respectful to be respectable.
Scriptures show that people with good virtues by nature show humility, like the bowing down of a branch laden with fruit. An empty and arrogant person does not show respect, like the upright steadfastness of an empty branch. So resonating with the experience and opinion of Michele Bachelet. She is just a figurative representative. The notion of bidirectional respect is universal. Being respectful does not indicate weakness or frailty. On the contrary, it shows a deep rooted confidence and high culture that embodies compassion, shared emotions and respect for all fellow human beings and wider nature. A person who can show such level of equanimity is valued, cherished and respected by all around her or him. Such a person is a gem for the society. Such a person spreads an aura of love and respect that endures beyond the position and profession.
So, it is good to be respected but it is even better to be respect out of true respect rather than out of fear, retribution or discipline.
Wednesday, 04 September 2019
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