Published: October 20, 2009 06:31 pm      

Norville promotes the "power of respect"

As the anchor for the television news program “Inside Edition,” Dalton native Deborah Norville reports on a lack of respect somewhere almost every day.

Just this year, viewers have watched U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson shout, “You lie!” at President Obama during a speech. Rapper Kanye West interrupted a music awards show presentation. The balloon boy saga is still unfolding.

But the story last year of eight girls inviting a friend for a sleepover, beating her, videotaping the violence and posting it to YouTube for the world to see pushed Norville over the edge. Civilized society had become uncivilized.

“I thought, ‘Wait a second,’” Norville said. “‘This is just enough. Stop. Are people that stupid that they think they’re not going to get caught? Are they that disconnected from common decency that they don’t see this as bad behavior?’ The answer was yes on both questions, and I thought, ‘We’ve got to do something about this.’”

Norville’s response? Write a book about respect. The result is “The Power of Respect: Benefit From the Most Forgotten Element of Success,” a follow-up to her 2007 book “Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You.”

“The Power of Respect” was released earlier this month. Norville touts the benefits of “treating people how you want to be treated” in business, education, leadership, marriage and parenting.

Norville doesn’t delve into why society has lost its sense of respect. But she believes there are several reasons. Internet blogs allow some people to anonymously skewer anyone with little consequences. Society has become increasingly narcissistic thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The media is at fault for glorifying “egregious acts of disrespect,” she said. And people are also pressed for time more than they ever have been.

“We now measure time in nano-seconds,” Norville said. “We have become such a time precious society that we don’t take the time, because we say we don’t have the time, for what used to be common civility. Civility is somewhat a time consuming process. It takes time for me to say thank you, it takes time for me to show you respect because I have to know a little bit about you and what gives you a sense of accomplishment and pride. I won’t know those things if I don’t take a small amount of time to learn about you.”

To arrive at her conclusions about respect and its benefits in everyday life, Norville spent hours poring over academic research and interviewing many people. For example, Duke University professor Allan Lind studied what motivated people to sue in wrongful termination lawsuits. He didn’t intend to study respect, but found when people believed they had been treated with respect and fairness they were less likely to sue. University of Florida researcher Timothy Judge looked at how companies can motivate workers to perform at peak levels. His research came back to imparting consideration, fairness and respect.

There are also several Dalton connections in the book. Susan Ward, a teacher at Dalton Middle School, begins each year with a lecture about respect to her students. Pamela Carroll, a former Daltonian and a current professor at Florida State University, discusses using respect in dealing with a problem student.

Norville found that her definition of respect was much broader after writing the book. She also realized the power respect has.

“What changed for me was the sense that there was such a strength to the power of respect,” Norville said. “I did not know until I did the research that it was an affirmative tool in as many areas as it is.”