Respect costs nothing. The lack of it costs you everything.

Blog articles

Respect lijkt zo’n vanzelfsprekendheid — maar is het dat in de praktijk ook? Zijn we écht respectvol, of spelen we vooral een rol? Zit respect in ons DNA verankerd, in wie we zijn als mens en dus als ondernemer?

Before you know it, you fall into the trap of disrespect. You get blinded by today's or tomorrow's deal. Focus on winning, outdoing competitors, pushing boundaries… I’ve seen it too many times: entrepreneurs who let everything fall by the wayside for the sacred goal.

Yes, I can hear you thinking: “Cor, are you such a saint?” I leave the answer to you. Of course, I am commercial, of course, I go for profit — just not at the expense of who I am and the people who are important to me.

Respect is not a soft skill but a hard prerequisite.

Sometimes I wonder to what extent respect is culturally determined. How do we in the Netherlands actually deal with respect in business? Is it really in our DNA, or are we secretly quite opportunistic? I often see that respect is effortlessly discarded as soon as the short-term advantage seems greater. Then suddenly, people start to 'think business'—which is often just a nice term for ignoring one's own values. For me, respect feels like something you should never compromise on. Because when you exchange respect for profit, you always end up paying too much.

Respect is lost faster than it is gained. Even if I cannot do business with you, I treat you with respect. Even if you are my competitor. I assume that colleagues and competitors are fair and honest in competition — so they receive my basic respect.

Expert view

Ben Tiggelaar: “Where respect disappears, safety disappears first, followed by openness and ultimately performance.”

Hoe zit dat bij jou als business owner of business leader? Behandel jij jouw mensen met respect? Zie je hen als onderdeel van jouw community, of als productie-eenheden die gewoon moeten leveren? Als je wil dat mensen hun uiterste best voor je doen, vraagt dat dat jij hetzelfde voor hen doet. Iedere dag opnieuw.

Voor mij is respect geen extraatje maar een fundament. Ik laat opdrachten zonder moeite lopen als er geen wederzijds respect is. Want zonder respect ontstaat geen vertrouwen, geen waardering — en precies die twee bepalen of een business gaat excelleren of langzaam afbrokkelt.

Please provide the text to be translated.

Without respect, you don't build a business, only tension.