Show Some Respect, Please

Disrespectfulness in leaders is a top toxic attribute in corporate culture according to an article “Why Every Leader Needs to Worry About Toxic Culture” by Donald Sull, Charles Sull, William Cipolli, and Caio Brighenti (https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/why-every-leader-needs-to-worry-about-toxic-culture/ ). The other top five toxic attributes in order are non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat and abusive. Disrespectful being the top toxic attribute makes sense and it has a powerful trickle-down effect to the other toxic attributes. If we are respectful of others, we will be inclusive, ethical, moral, and loving and kind.

When size and expansiveness as an employer and customer are taken into consideration, the US government, including federal, state and local levels, is the largest corporate culture in America and the world. Some might argue that government is not a business and therefore does not have a corporate culture. Businesses receive income by providing goods and services to customers as does government. Customers who do not like the goods and services offered because the product is faulty or the service is terrible, have the option to take their business elsewhere. Our government has close to 333 million customers and we do not have that option. We pay mandatory taxes at the local, state and federal levels for services we may or may not want or benefit from. There is no opt out of being a customer when it comes to the gluttonous totality that is US government unless one becomes a permanent resident of another country which many of us are not able or willing to do.

The US Federal Government is the largest employer, surpassing any traditional corporation including Wal-Mart, the world’s largest private corporate employer. Close to 3 million people are employed by our Federal Government not including military and postal service employees and that number more than doubles when those services are included. According to www.census.gov 14.2 million workers were employed by local governments and another 5.5 million employees were on state government payrolls in 2019. Those numbers have likely risen because it is the nature of our government system to become bigger and oftentimes less efficient.

“The US Federal Government is the single largest consumer in the world, spending more than $650 billion on products and services each year.” (www.epa.gov in an April 28, 2022 post regarding selling greener products and services to the Federal Government). That does not include military spending which amounts to around $800 billion. Many private companies worldwide rely on the spending of the US government at all levels including the military for their sustenance and in some cases, their entire existence. Huge profits are to be made when the US government is one of your biggest customers. Sometimes government is the only customer.

Some leaders in the two political parties in control are often incredibly and disappointingly disrespectful to one another and this seems to be getting worse resulting in a lack of meaningful progress on important issues. Government customers are being hurt by this disrespectfulness. Non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat and abusive behaviors are unfortunately more common than is desirable and those behaviors impact all political leaders, government employees and most importantly customers of government. A corporate culture does exist in the totality of US government and it is toxic. Disrespectful behavior of leaders at the federal level trickles down to state and local government leaders sometimes creating hostile work environments for the over 22 million government employees. A plethora of negative comments float between leaders who are ideologically at two extremes due to political party loyalties, and an unwillingness to put aside egos to make lasting progress. Their behavior has a profound impact on all of us and is not always positive or productive. All of this is made worse by media outlets that pit the political parties against each other to sway us to their own desires and conclusions whether or not they are right and just. It is a perpetual cycle of disrespectful behavior that leaves customers of government fighting amongst ourelves not mindfully knowing exactly why we are fighting. It must stop if we want to experience peace and prosperity collectively. Show some respect, please.

Respect definitions (Oxford Languages):
1. A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.
2. Due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others.
3. Admire (someone or something) deeply, as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Of note, the definitions of respect do not include acceptance or tolerance of bad behavior.

‘We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.’ – Ruth Rogers