A Letter from the Executive Director

I’ve never met anyone who didn’t want to be treated with respect. Have you? And yet our nearly 30 years of research and traveling around the world leading workshops, delivering talks and facilitating dialogues have led us to the sad conclusion that disrespect is more common now than it has been since the 1960’s. At The Center for Respectful Leadership^®, we believe that respect and the practice of what we call “Respectful Leadership,” are extraordinarily important for success in business and in life. In fact, we – and experts in the field everywhere – have identified respect to be a key driver of productivity, performance and partnership in every organization. And yet, because the concepts within and the practices of respect and Respectful Leadership are so poorly understood (if at all), most organizations undervalue them and shunt them to the side. CRL’s mission is to educate the world on the genuine value of respect and Respectful Leadership; to have open dialogues, foster mutual understanding, mine for agreement, teach and learn new skills, make a positive difference in people’s lives, and contribute to the common vision: we are all better off with respect. Join us in our mission and to help us achieve our vision by learning about respect, by taking part in our discussions, contributing your perspectives, attending workshops and practicing Respectful Leadership wherever you are. We enthusiastically invite you to embrace respect, and we look forward to welcoming you into this wonderful, caring, and energizing community of like-minded people we call The Center for Respectful Leadership^®. Respectfully Yours, Gregg Ward, MCEC BCC Founder & Executive Director

“Respect is like air. As long as it’s present, nobody thinks about it. But if you take it away, it’s all that people can think about.”
― Ron McMillan, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

The Center for Respectful Leadership^® is committed to investing in leadership and organizational transformation through active research, public dialogues, learning and development programs and coaching that focus on the positive power and measurable impact of respect.

Supporting an ever growing community of thriving, successful organizations which understand, value and employ respect as a cornerstone of their cultures.

Understand Respect: We understand that Respect and Respectful Leadership are key drivers of performance, productivity and partnership in every environment.

Value Respect: We genuinely value respect, civility, consideration, and decency. And we acknowledge that if we ignore and/or dismiss the value and impact of respect, we put ourselves, our colleagues, customers, communities, and organizations at significant risk.

Practice Respect: We intentionally and consistently treat everyone with respect, civility, consideration, and decency. In short, we treat others the way they want to be treated.

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Our Story

The Center for Respectful Leadership^® Founder and Executive Director Gregg Ward got his start as a professional actor, writer and director in New York City during the 1980’s. He quickly learned that although most people find actors to be entertaining, they don’t necessarily respect them. A few years on, when using his theater skills in training programs in partnership with the NYPD, Gregg discovered that respect between police officers and the people they served was in many cases almost non-existent, causing both groups serious, and sometimes lifelong, challenges.

This observation led to the pursuit of an understanding of the importance and best practices surrounding conflict resolution, interpersonal communication, and (most importantly) respect. Through research and experience Gregg discovered that respect – although often dismissed as a “warm fuzzy” topic – was a key driver of performance, productivity, loyalty, and partnership. Even more surprising, he determined that disrespect and incivility in the workplace was negatively impacting business processes and outcomes far more than anyone understood; and disrespect was alarmingly common.

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