Something that continues to bother me is the lack of respect shown to each other by people of all ages, but especially our young folks. Disrespect for their elders, teachers, coaches and peers and especially each other. You can say I am old school. I’m not hip. I’m not cool. Don’t waste your breath. I work with young people all the time. And, everything is created in language.

The thing about respect is that disrespecting others is a sign that you don’t respect yourself. Really! What happened to Sir and Ma’am? Would you use “bitch” when speaking to your Mom or Grandma? How much does someone really care for a girl friend that’s a bitch? That and racial slurs, words that demean, along with tone of voice, body language etc. leave people disrespected and resistant to relating to that person.

The NFL has a big flap going on right now about a player and the relationship he has with another player that caused him to quit a million dollar job. I know, it is a football locker room and that’s a different world, blah, blah, blah. It still doesn’t justify anything. It is just a symptom of what goes on in the world in general. And, it is not just a “street thang.”

Without respect there is no relationship. Relationship is the key to everything. So where do we draw the line? Doesn’t it make sense that in a world that works, we need to speak to each other from respect? By the way, text messages are not designed to create relationships. Too me they are not capable of creating respect and might destroy it from time to time.

So, what are some of the pieces to the relationship puzzle? One is interest in the other person. People walk around trying to convince themselves that they don’t need anyone when, in fact, we don’t know who we will need and when.

Being selfish is part of human survival, but if that is all there is, it is the lowest level of living. When you are interested in someone you can always find something to respect. It is not necessary to respect everything about them. Just focus on what you do respect. Nobody’s perfect.

I do a lot of work with coaches so I want to deliver this thought … what are you teaching your athletes about respect of others? Do they have the manners appropriate to the situation they are in? How are yours? What language is acceptable? Is your language a model? Actually, it is always a model for them. Would your grandmother approve?

Building teams at the championship level requires respect, commitment, trust, integrity, leadership and much more. Coaches, your team is a mirror image of you. You are who you say you are. If so, is that what they see?