Showing Respect for Others is Part of Your Personal Brand

Consistently Follow the Golden Rule: What you want for yourself, you give to others. Do right and do it consistently in how you think, act, and interact with people.

Over the years there are versions of the “rule” that I’ve heard from colleagues. Pick one that rings true for you:

  • Do what’s right for the other person, and you’ll end up doing what’s right for you
  • Do unto others what you would have them do unto you
  • Be good to people, and they will be good to you
  • Treat all people as you would like to be treated
  • Good works on Earth align you in the right way with the universe
  • You never want to do unto others what you would not want done unto you
  • What is hateful to you, do not do to others
  • As a leader, always be more than is expected of the people you’re working for and who are working for you
  • You can’t ask others to do what you aren’t willing to do yourself
  • Treat people like you want to be treated
  • Do unto others before they split
  • How would you want to be treated (or how would you want your mother, your son, to be treated)?
  • Treat others as they would like to be treated
  • Don’t repeat what you didn’t like done to you
  • Expect from others what you expect from yourself

Any version works for giving the respect due to others – as good leaders do.

Picture of Debra Benton

Debra Benton

D.A. (Debra) Benton has been helping great individuals and organizations get even better for over 20 years. Just as exceptional athletes rely on excellent coaching to hone their skills, Debra's clients rely on her advice to advance their careers. She focuses on what is truly important to convert what you and your organization want to be from a vision into a reality. TopCEOCoaches.com ranks her in the World's Top 10 CEO Coaches noting she is the top female. And as conference keynote speaker she is routinely rated in the top 2%. Her client list reads like a “Who's Who” of executives in companies ranging from Microsoft, McDonald's, Kraft, American Express, Merrill Lynch, United Airlines, and PricewaterhouseCoopers to the Washington Beltway and U.S.Border Patrol. *She is the author of ten award-winning and best-selling business books including The Virtual Executive and CEO Material. She has written for the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Fast Company. She has been featured in USA Today, Fortune, The New York Times, and Time; she has appeared on Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, and CBS with Diane Sawyer. To learn more Debra advising leaders, coaching, facilitating a workshop, or speaking: www.debrabenton.com

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

If you think anger is what keeps us going back to outlets that make us furious, 22,743 headline tests suggest otherwise. Researchers think the real hook is the other side

If you think anger is what keeps us going back to outlets that make us furious, 22,743 headline tests suggest otherwise. Researchers think the real hook is the other side

The Blog Herald

The Daily Wire lost a third of its paying subscribers in 2025 after spending $50 million on a fantasy series

The Daily Wire lost a third of its paying subscribers in 2025 after spending $50 million on a fantasy series

The Blog Herald

NPR says more than 300,000 Washington Post subscribers cancelled after Bezos blocked a presidential endorsement

NPR says more than 300,000 Washington Post subscribers cancelled after Bezos blocked a presidential endorsement

The Blog Herald

Hillary Clinton attacked Allie Beth Stuckey in The Atlantic, which is exactly what Stuckey’s audience needed

Hillary Clinton attacked Allie Beth Stuckey in The Atlantic, which is exactly what Stuckey’s audience needed

The Blog Herald

The Bulwark turned Republican exile into a $20 million media business. Now it has to prove its community can outlast Trump

The Bulwark turned Republican exile into a $20 million media business. Now it has to prove its community can outlast Trump

The Blog Herald

Only one in four Americans now trust the news, a record low that leaves them at less than half the levels reported in Finland, Kenya and Nigeria

Only one in four Americans now trust the news, a record low that leaves them at less than half the levels reported in Finland, Kenya and Nigeria

The Blog Herald