Respect: BOSS Ladies Rule! By Reneé Lowe

The word respect gets thrown around loosely and often trampled over. This has always been a concern for me as a BOSS Lady. In my past 9-5 life, it was often hard to get the respect that I felt I was due. I was also very careful about what my reputation was in the boardroom. In Public Relations, these things are key, to keep your brand moving and shaking like a well-oiled machine!

I have had clients who needed extreme crisis management to repair their reputation and some who needed to re-vamp their image, to gain more respect for their brand. In either situation, you have to remember to be diligent and press towards your goal, despite the roadblocks. There are always those that will lurk in the background only to tear you down on previous mistakes or failures and this can be very dangerous when building respect for a brand. Personally, I don’t believe that anyone’s past should dictate their future and that is why people like me, do the job that we do. We can take a battered brand or image and build it up, so it can once again attain the professional footing that it may have lost.

In situations where people purposely try to derail your brand, you have to start the process of SPAM blocking in your life. Just like the many emails you get with promises of getting rich quickly or miracle fat-burning pills, you must hit the junk button and treat it as SPAM! This is paramount in gaining respect and building up a reputation. If you make a mistake, own it 110% and provide the solutions that will be implemented, so said mistakes will not happen again.

One of the ways you can earn respect in the workplace, is being firm on what you believe. Always speak up on an opinion…No shrinking violets here! If you are mute in every board meeting, people will start to wonder why you are taking up space in the chair. The second things is to be a true leader and don’t forget to get your OWN hands dirty. Nothing encourages an employee more than when a BOSS can work alongside them in the trenches. The final thing I have learned is to know your craft. This is a BIG one! Never rely on others solely to speak on behalf of your brand, because that can lead to disaster. Only you can steer the ship on your dreams and guide it to success. Along with this, make sure that everyone on your team understands the vision for your brand and check up on them continuously, to make sure they are maintaining the utmost standards of excellence.

While gaining respect as a BOSS Lady may seem daunting at times, don’t ever give up! There may be cases where you need to put a project on hold and come back to it. Sometimes, even a negative situation may warrant you to step aside and allow a “fresh face” to take the controls, until repairs can be made. Whatever the scenario, keep in mind your end result and stay on the path of perseverance. The steps to claiming respect, will ALWAYS reveal themselves!

To Learn More About Renee Lowe Follower Her @OnyxQueenMedia