Loyalty

This morning I was thinking about the word loyalty and what it means to me. Loyalty is something we should cherish and not necessarily just in the workplace. It is important to have loyalty with family and friends, or even with a business from owner to customer or consumer to product. Yes, sometimes loyalty can be assumed to be bad since it is never a good thing to have blind adherence to anyone. This version of loyalty in which people follow wrong behavior is not at all what this commentary is about. 

I don’t know what it is about loyalty. When discussed, some people immediately think the negative. Loyalty however in my eyes is a sign of respect. If for example I’m a loyal friend, I will certainly not allow a friend to make bad choices when I am present and I will not participate in the poor choice as a follower. I however am going to help my friend to make good choices. As far as a colleague is concerned the same would be true. I am going to be loyal and work with them but if presented with the opportunity to make a poor choice, being a loyal colleague, I will help him/her to choose the other.

That is where I believe loyalty and trust are connected. Though the words have two very different definitions in that loyalty is a strong feeling of support or allegiance and trust deals with the acceptance of truth, they are forever attached. Can you actually have one without the other? I believe one must be granted before the other. Trust can lead to loyalty, if the need exists. Many times trust is the only thing that is needed. Trust, for example, is a two-way street that has to be present before one can be loyal. If trust is violated, loyalty can still exist however there is a part of the relationship that has to be mended. Trust itself, however, is very difficult to earn after it has been lost. 

As far as school is concerned loyalty and trust do exist between a teacher and a student. The teacher has got to build trust with the students through outreach, compassion, and service. Loyalty is then extended by the students. That is where I believe loyalty to be a sign of respect. A that teacher earns the trust of the students through professionally meeting their educational and emotional needs, will also be extended loyalty. That loyalty shows up in plenty of ways, but one example is when the teacher happens to have a substitute. The students will behave better in that class out of respect and loyalty to their teacher and the rule set forth. 

I believe loyalty is a sign of respect that is also an obligation to oneself and to another to perform better. Until next time...