Earning Trust and Friendship: Building Bridges with a Foundation of Respect | LOH #251

Hello, lovely Ladies of Hive! 💖 Hope you're having a wonderful week! ✨

This week's challenge question by @trucklife-family is a beautiful invitation to look back and celebrate our personal victories:

2️⃣ Looking back over your life, what are the moments that you are proudest of, where you stayed true to your core beliefs?

As I think about this question, the answer is clear. My proudest experiences are not about one accomplishment, but about one thing I needed to earn and give on a daily basis: respect. My core values of respecting people, having integrity, and perseverance have carried me through countless aspects of life, but earning people's respect has been the most gratifying reward of all. I firmly believe no man or woman is an island and that respect should be given to everyone and also earned, regardless of someone's title, position, financial status, gender, belief, or ideas.

I recall when I first joined my first job in a new company. It’s always a challenge to adjust to a new working environment. In any kind of job, respect is absolutely crucial, especially when you're dealing with other people. I worked in Quality Assurance, and our job is to ensure that the products meet the company's standards. That translates to having to be strict when it comes to decision-making.

The challenge was that the production team has a different goal: to produce as much product as possible to hit their quota. This caused a natural conflict. To them, we, as quality assurance, were just being strict and causing trouble. Sometimes, they seemed to be set against us, when in reality, we were just doing our job. But my underlying value of respect guided me through this. My mantra was: "work is work, nothing personal." I chose to treat everybody decently, no matter what. I was sure to be friendly, even to the rude, and to be respectful to my elders and coworkers, regardless of their position at the company.

I made the effort to talk to people outside of our own departments, even the guards and the housekeeping staff. I talked to the production managers whom we so frequently came into conflict with. I approached them as people, not just colleagues with different goals. I respected their hard work and their need to reach their quotas, and I asked them to understand our need for quality.

The most wonderful outcome of this was that, over time, I began to earn their respect. The inter-department conflict started fading away, and my work became much smoother. The people who were once my biggest critics became my friends. I became close with individuals from various departments and from different walks of life, even the very supervisors from the past, whom we used to conflict with.

My experience taught me that when you treat others with genuine respect, it comes back to you. It builds bridges where there were once walls. This is one of the moments I am proudest of, because I didn't have to compromise my beliefs to succeed. I just had to be myself, and in doing so, I not only earned respect but also found valuable friendships along the way.