The Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated." We all know the Golden Rule: "Treat others the way you want to be treated." The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated the way that you would like to be treated. The alternative to the Golden Rule is the Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated. Find out what respect means to others." The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others. You start finding out what respect means to others instead of just knowing what respect means to you. The focus of relationships shifts from "this is what I want, so I'll give everyone the same thing" to "let me first understand what they want and then I'll give it to them."