Sweet and Sour
“You will attract a lot more flies with honey than you will with vinegar.”
Humiliation has become an intrinsic ingredient of so many reality TV shows. I personally find this obnoxious. What a sad departure from basic human core values of treating others as we would like to be treated.
Dare I say it again; East Enders was and still is the leader of the pack of negative TV (though not a reality show). The worst examples of taking the nastiest elements of human behaviour and communication to disgraceful excess are exemplified by East Enders. Now the last time I criticised East Enders in my book “Succeed for Yourself” the tabloids pilloried me. Even John Prescott, then deputy Prime Minister was motivated to make a ministerial announcement that East Enders was the epitome of all that was good in Britain today – sick. After that announcement the tabloids did an about turn and then claimed that probably I was right. Well it increased the sales of “Succeed for Yourself” but not much else.
The TV networks have a plethora of humiliating programmes to choose from. “The Weakest Link” – “The Apprentice” – “Big Brother” – “Come Dancing” – “Master Chef” – and of course Gordon Ramsey’s numerous exposures. But what a pleasant surprise when I switched on to Terry Wogan’s “Wogan’s Perfect Recall” to see the presenter being kind, generous and reassuring. A big man in all aspects with nothing to prove.
In business and at work bosses have no right to humiliate, to degrade or to disgrace. No boss should ever make people feel small, to crush them or to deflate their people’s self-esteem. I only hope that these demeaning programmes are not setting role models for aspiring supervisors and managers to imitate in this pathetic mindless celebrity led culture. If they do they will only enhance the employment tribunal industry.
My wife’s grandmother told Dorothy on a regular basis “you will attract a lot more flies with honey than you ever will with vinegar.” A great thought.
