📺 Stream EntrepreneurTV for Free 📺

5 Ways to Get More Respect at Work Consider these tips if you want to be better respected at your job.

By Ken Sundheim

entrepreneur daily

This story originally appeared on Personal Branding Blog

"Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power." Clint Eastwood.

Seemingly this formula worked well for Clint Eastwood in his career and if you want to be better respected at your job, it can work for you too.

Take a moment to conjure up what work would be like if your colleagues, bosses, subordinates and clients treated you more respectfully. Do you envision more money? Do you envision more fulfilling relationships with these individuals?

1. Define your values.
People follow strength and competency. Think about what makes you a better, stronger person. Write down those aspects you would like to move towards and a few things you would like to move away from. Simply listing these items can provide tremendous momentum toward or away from each value.

2. Discover your passion.
It helps a great deal to get where you want to be if the you have passion for the actual journey it takes to reach your end goal. Passionate employees tend to deepen their involvement around the office and, thus gain a significant amount of respect and friendship from others.

Related: Respect, Power, Family Pride: How Do You Define Success?

3. Know your purpose.
Corporate America is a tough place. It will lead you through twists, turns and disappointments. If your purpose is, say, to service your clients better than any other firm, then keep your eye on the ball. The resiliency and positive attitude will quickly be realized by those around you.

4. Envision what the future is going to be like.
Start to take some time and envision what it is going to be like when you do hit the pinnacle of getting more respect, friendship and success around the office. Practice makes perfect. To best achieve this, take a few deep breaths, get the negative thoughts out of your mind and begin to make it a mental reality.

5. Stop monologuing and start taking interest.
You ever notice that when you look at a picture with multiple people in it, you always look at yourself first? Human beings (inside the office, outside the office – wherever) are highly self-involved. They are flattered and respond better to you as a leader and an individual when you stop focusing on yourself and begin to take a genuine interest in them.

Taking these steps isn't easy, but think of it as training yourself for a better life. There is a pertinent story I read a few weeks ago about a Navy Seal who, when he jumped out of an airplane, found that his parachute wouldn't open.

He described what saved him and eventually got it opened was his extensive training, which allowed him to remain focused. It won't happen tomorrow or a week from now and maybe not even in a month, but with extensive training on yourself and your interaction with others, you will become better respected both professionally and personally.

Related: How to Earn Your Employees' Respect

Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement Sales and Marketing Recruiters, a sales and marketing recruiting firm specializing in staffing business development and marketing professionals around the U.S. Ken has been published in Forbes, Chicago Tribune, AOL, Business Insider, Ere.net, Recruiter.com, Huffington Post and many others. He has also appeared on MTV, Fox Business News and spoken at some of the country's leading business schools on HR, job search and recruitment.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Green Entrepreneur®

How to Make Your Ecommerce Business Truly Sustainable (and Why It's Important)

Effective data collection solutions help overcome the challenges of shifting to more sustainable ecommerce practices.

Business Solutions

Bring Programming In-House with Visual Studio and Coding Courses for $56

This bundle features Microsoft Visual Studio Pro 2022 and a wealth of online coding courses.

Buying / Investing in Business

How to Recognize Money-Making Trends in The Market — And Boost Your Profits

These patterns and seasonal changes in the markets, especially over a set number of years, can provide some investors with an interesting map that may help their portfolios perform well all year long or even be a key to long-term riches.

Business News

Waymo Is the Second Automated Driving Company in 2 Days to Face an Investigation

This week, Waymo announced it makes 50,000 paid robotaxi rides weekly.

Starting a Business

The Scrappy Origin Story of Toast, the Game-Changing Restaurant Tech Company

Toast CEO and co-founder Aman Narang discusses the company's humble beginnings, their culture of scrappiness, and how they've transformed the way that restaurants do business.

Business News

This Highly-Anticipated Disney World Ride Finally Has a Reopening Date: 'Like the Animation Came to Life'

Tiana's Bayou Adventure is replacing Splash Mountain at Disney World and Disneyland.