you can't force me to respect you. you have to earn it.

had a longish talk with former teammate V earlier tonight. V is a strong woman, a kulasa like i am. i got a lot of pointers from her on dealing with people, and dealing with the sh*t that has been thrown at me.

1) respect is earned. it is never forced out of the person you want to respect you. a true leader never forces his/her subordinates to respect him/her just because he/she is the leader. instead, the true leader acts as a leader should, and in this way earns the respect of the subordinates. if the respect is forced, then it is not respect. it is fear. and people hate what they fear.

2) leadership does not equate to dictatorship. leadership means acting and leading others to act in the same way. dictatorship is ordering others to act in a certain way, with the dictator acting however he/she wants without fear of reprisal.

3) what is right is not always popular. and what is popular is not always right.

thanks, V, for reminding me. :)