Managing Clarkson
11 March 2015 by Catherine Holdsworth in Business and finance, Current events
Once again, Jeremy Clarkson has made a bit of a boob at the BBC. After his racist gaffes and misjudged use of a number plate in Argentina last year alone, the BBC may finally have to take responsibility for putting a bigoted man on prime time television. In 2011, the BBC had to apologise to the whole of Mexico (yes, the entire country) when Clarkson characterised them as ‘lazy’ and ‘feckless’. It would seem that in using such tired stereotypes, Clarkson himself is lazy and feckless.
While the programme Top Gear promotes ‘lads on tour’ behaviour and encourages men to replace women with cars in their sexual fantasies, the ‘banter’ has gone too far. Having exhausted its premise as a show which reviews cars, it is now a programme that is at best a ridiculous documentary about three white, middle-class, middle-aged men driving around the world shouting obscenities at the local people.
Clarkson’s suspension, however, is not due to his racist gaffes or unfunny ‘lad banter’ but because of a violent altercation with a producer. The last two episodes of the current series of Top Gear have been cancelled and Clarkson has been temporarily banned from the BBC (most likely while they work out whether his reputation is worth the money he brings in). The show is fundamentally aimed at men and encourages alpha-male behaviour. Whether you would think that the three presenters were typical alpha-males if you met them out of the safe context of the show is debatable.
Now the BBC are left, once again, to clear up after one of their most temperamental stars. How are they going to manage Clarkson this time? When someone becomes bigger than the team, they are no longer a team player. Clarkson’s reputation was damaged long ago but the BBC are at risk of damaging their own purely because of the money that Clarkson brings in. At times like this, reputation and principal can be more important for a company than profit.
A strong company starts with strong leadership and the BBC needs to realise that Clarkson’s toxic personality will destroy Top Gear and tarnish its own reputation unless it takes strong action. If, on the other hand, Clarkson keeps on being given ‘one last chance’ then he’ll have proved that he really is bigger than the team and can get away with what he likes.
For more advice on how to manage difficult people, why not read 100+ Management Models by Fons Trompenaars and Piet Hein Coebergh.
