How to show respect + appreciation to your superiors?

[skiing]

I'm wondering how you guys show respect and appreciation to your superiors. I'm not going to lie that communicating with my superiors in lab has been a learning curve. I've been forced to adapt a new style - saying things in a different way - asking for things in a different way - etc - due to being on the bottom of the totem pole, and simultaneously having the least knowledge compared to everyone else.

More specifically, I think that most people in positions of authority have certain expectations for those that work beneath them in terms of how they ask for things and behave, conversate etc. I get a nagging feeling (although nothing has been said outright) that I'm not doing enough to show those above me that I honor and respect them as my superiors. Some of those I work with have meek personalities and egos that I think need reaffirming and as a petite girl I think that not being gentle in the right ways can come off as cocky. I do my best, but I still feel I'm missing something and could do better.

What does being the bottom of the totem pole mean to you? How do you act towards your superiors to show them respect and appreciation?

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[Freesia88]

Be sincere in your dealings with them. People can usually sense when you are sincere and even if you are on opposite sides of an issue, tend to respond better. If you have to disagree, do so as respectfully as you can. Choose your battles carefully.

Take your work seriously. I think the highest respect and honor you could give as someone at the bottom is show a willingness to learn from them.

 

[NYPreMed88]

You're speaking as a lab tech or as an undergrad volunteer?

The first thing you need to realize is that introverted people aren't broken and don't need to be handled with kid-gloves. Science tends to attract people with that personality. I work around grad students and graduate school can be a very humbling experience. They probably feel exactly the way you do compared to post-docs, and post-docs feel the same way compared to PI's who develop massive egos by the end of it all.

Find out what they expect of you, do it, and do it well. Try and find ways to lighten their work load. If a postdoc is showing you how to do some immunochemistry you should take the initiative and make up the buffers so they don't have to. Mind you, this doesn't mean relegating yourself to cleaning up other people's messes.

 

[TipToad]

I bring in home-baked goods every week!

Blueberry lemon bars are a favorite.