Vol 5 # 6 – Start with Respect, move to Gratitude, then to Leadership, and start all over again

Hello friends.  Welcome to this installment of Better Than Good and Improving™.

Follow the circle one time completely through and you will realize how you can enter that circle at any point.

TSOT 006-Respect  really will take you to Leadership

If you are grateful for someone—for something they do—

That gratitude begins to turn into respect.

When you are respectful, you begin to show leadership.

Do you recognize how gratitude becomes respect?

Do you see that when you show respect, you are lifting others—quietly, but meaningfully?

My wife and I visited Meursault.

We arrived at the front desk and began the check-in process with the customary bonjour. Then we proceeded as normal.

After getting to our room, we realized we had arrived after the restaurant had closed.

We called the front desk, and the clerk was kind enough to bring us two glasses of wine.

The next morning, as we prepared to check out, the conversation again began with bonjour, and we moved through the process.

My wife and I have a deep gratitude for France staying true to itself—remaining a polite country, rooted in its traditions and culture. That gratitude became respect. For us, that meant beginning every interaction with bonjour. As a U.S. citizen, that is more than politeness—it is acknowledgment.

From there, I, the non-French speaker, had to continue with Parlez-vous anglais?

Because gratitude became respect, and respect shaped our behavior, the experience unfolded differently. After a longer conversation, we said our goodbyes with la bise—a kiss on each cheek.

Simple respect for French culture—formed before we ever arrived—created a different outcome. We were not tourists passing through. We were participants, even if only briefly.

Allow yourself to be grateful.

Let it become respect.

Then lead—by example.

You never know where it will take you.

Respect → Gratitude → Leadership
…and the circle continues.

#respect #gratitude #thankfulness #leadership #TheSpiritOfThanks

Originally published on LinkedIn as part of The Spirit of Thanks series.

Thanks for stopping by on your way to Better Than Good and Improving™.

Yours Aye,

Dr. Edward M. Dunlap, Jr AKA Doctor D

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