Trickle-Down Incivility?
Tony Kessler
409 Posts
We've witnessed three major public acts of incivility over the past week or so -- Rep. Joe Wilson calling President Obama a liar during his address to Congress, tennis star Serena Williams dressing down a line official with a profanity-laced tirade during the U.S. Open, and rapper Kanye West dissing country singer Taylor Smith in the middle of her award acceptance speech. It's probably a good thing that Serena and Kanye are self-employed and that Wilson comes from a heavily Republican district in South Carolina. So while none of these incidents involved employees in a traditional workplace, are there any lessons for HR? Are you seeing more or less civility in your own businesses? If so, why? When something like this occurs,does a good apology help? And would you classify any of the three apologies that followed these three incidents as "good"? Much food for thought. tk
p.s. Here is a newspaper article titled "Is civility dead in America?" that I believe sums up the three situations nicely.
[URL]http://bit.ly/39Eh6J[/URL]
p.s. Here is a newspaper article titled "Is civility dead in America?" that I believe sums up the three situations nicely.
[URL]http://bit.ly/39Eh6J[/URL]
Comments
I also think that as managers, we tend to not step out of our shoes enough - there are times when stepping out of line is not intended to defame or hurt, it is simply someone expressing their opinion (and you might not want to hear it). I read this Newsweek article a few days ago that I feel does a good job of explaining what I'm trying to say. ([URL="http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/09/10/a-defense-of-joe-wilson-the-democractic-right-to-dissent.aspx"]http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/09/10/a-defense-of-joe-wilson-the-democractic-right-to-dissent.aspx[/URL]) If you've ever watched the House of Commons from British Parliament on BBC, you know that in their system of government, vocal dissent is not a "sin," it's a means to fleshing out all sides of an issue. While some may see it as volatile, I don't. In HR, I think we need to listen to what people are saying - sometimes people are just being jerks, but other times, they are bringing legitimate issues to our attention.
Just my 2 cents...
So I wouldn't necessarily say that the three synchronous events are a sign of a universal decline of civility because, as Tony pointed out, the average person doesn't get anywhere by behaving like Kanye.
I think that the general workplace/business dealings "norm" is somewhere around the area of quiet toleration. It's unusual enough, for me at least, for someone to be abrupt, to not say 'please' and 'thank you,' and the like that I take notice of those behaviors. At the same time, though, I also take notice of exceptionally polite people and colleagues who go above and beyond in order to help others out. Perhaps at one time the latter certainly was the norm and we've declined from that, but I don't think it's been particularly recent.
On one hand, we tend to like our outbursts and public meltdowns. Who remembers McEnroe for his brilliant tennis?
I think a better example of our decline in civility was the youtube video of the lady having a TOTAL meltdown after she missed her flight.
Here's a similar article from this morning's L.A. Times.
Note that Tony didn't warn us ahead of time. Yet another example of the decline in civility.
A spirited debate is a great thing, when you are in a place appropriate for debate. When it is someone's turn to speak, everyone should listen attentively. It is even more important in such a public forum as Obama's case. Plus, he is our president and as such deserves our respect. He didn't just walk into the white house, he was voted there. Since we chose him, even if we didn't vote for him, we should, publicly at least, show him respect. I am not saying that people shouldn't voice their dissent. I am just saying that dissent, even passionate dissent, can and should be voiced with respect.
Hmmm . . . if people are visiting, though, you could be right. Maybe we should ask Frank to wear pants today. tk
We've asked Frank to wear pants everyday, but he chooses to ignore us.
Of course, a more civilized society would not speak of his manner of undress. (sorry no emoticon for a British accent)
Frank, I am shocked you even know who Glenn Beck is.:-O