Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

• Encourage your coworkers to demonstrate respect to each other as well.
• Listen to your coworkers openly without expressing judgment before they’ve finished speaking.
• Listen to your coworkers without cutting them off or speaking over them.
• Make sure you treat all of your coworkers fairly and equally.
• Make sure your facial expressions are appropriate and not aggressive.
• Never engage in verbally aggressive behavior: insults, name-calling, rumor mongering, disparaging,
and putting people or their ideas down.
• Praise your coworkers more often than you criticize them. Point out when they’re doing great
things, not just when they’re doing “wrong” things.
• Provide an equal opportunity for all coworkers to provide insight and input during meetings.
• Treat people the same regardless of age, gender, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc.
• When expressing judgment, focus on criticizing ideas, and not the person.
Now that we’ve looked a wide range of ways that you can show your respect for your coworkers, we
would be remiss if we didn’t bring up one specific area where you can demonstrate respect: the language
we use. In a recent meeting, one of our coauthors was reporting on some work that was being completed
on campus and let people in the meeting know that some people were already “grandfathered in” to the
pre-existing process. Without really intending to, our coauthor had used gendered language. One of the
other people in the room quickly quipped, “or grandmothered.” Upon contemplation, our coauthor
realized that the seemingly innocuous use of the phrase “grandfathered in,” which admittedly is very
common, is one that has a gendered connotation that limits it to males. Even though our coauthor’s
purpose had never been to engage in sexist language, the English language is filled with sexist language
examples, and they come all too quickly to many of us because of tradition and the way we were taught
the language. This experience was a perfect reminder for our coauthor about the importance of thinking
about sexist and biased language and how it impacts the workplace. Table 13.2 is a list of common sexist
or biased language and corresponding inclusive terms that one could use instead.
Sexist or Biased Language
Inclusive Term
Businessman
business owner, business executive, or business
person
cancer victim; AIDS victim
cancer patient; person living with AIDS
chairman
chairperson or chair
confined to a wheelchair
uses a wheelchair
congressman
congressperson
Eskimo
Inuit or Aleut
fireman
firefighters
freshman
first-year student
Indian (when referring to U.S. indigenous peoples) Native American or specific tribe
policeman
police officer
man or mankind
people, humanity, or the human race
man hours
working hours
man-made
manufactured, machine made, or synthetic
manpower
personnel or workforce
449
Interpersonal Communication