Deborah Norville Talks About The Power of Respect
Airdate
:
10/13/2009
If journalists have a front seat on history, lately I've felt I've sat front row at disrespect.
With disturbing frequency, we've reported on bad behavior. There was Kanye West stealing the mic during Taylor Swift's MTV VMAs win, Serena Williams's unsportsmanlike conduct at the U.S. Open, and a member of Congress shouting at the President during his speech to a joint session of Congress.
It's no surprise that 79% of Americans say disrespect is a serious problem in America, but I wondered if we could do anything about it.
People don't just naturally do things because it's the right thing to do, but they'll do what's right if they see what's in it for them, so I thought it would be cool if I could go into the academic literature and actually find proof of measurable benefits that happen just when you treat people with respect.
For instance, at work, when bosses or supervisors acknowledge workers' efforts and give them a sense they matter, people work harder and are more creative.
Last I checked, we're in an economic cataclysm, we need everybody working at full strength.
86% of public schools report at least one violent incident on campus, including 14 homicides in 2006. But at schools where respect programs exist, kids' reading scores have doubled and teachers found 17 days worth of additional teaching time, time they used to spend sending kids to the principal. The cost? Nothing.
Respect costs nothing so it's incredible to me that you can actually get more teaching time for children if you simply institute a culture of respect.
To read an excerpt of Deborah Norville's new book, The Power of Respect, download the PDF via the button at the top of this story.
