President Medvedev picked yesterday to announce that he was going to be moving his short range Iskander missiles to the Polish border to counter a perceived US threat.  It is an interesting bit of timing on a day when the rest of the World seemed to be contemplating a brighter future and positive changes.

This was Russia drawing a line and telling the US that they needed to be taken seriously and respected.  It is interesting to note that we all want and need respect and in times of change, one of the things we seek first is to establish that we have this.

If you want your team to go with you, you first have to make it very clear by your actions that you respect them… 

“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”  Jackie Robinson
“They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.”  Mahatma Gandhi

Resources:

• The story
• The west’s response