The world seems to have been taken over by this programme called Love Island. People are finishing meals early, or not even socialising, to get home in time for a 9pm curfew.
I have even lost my wife to a group of young, model like individuals that talk about nothing and have nothing to talk about. My wife describes it as mundane TV that allows her to switch off and sleep better! Hmmm…I am not convinced.
My initial reaction was, what has the world come to wasting time on such nonsense, and then I realised that actually TV programmes like Love Island give people something to talk about. They bring communities together, regardless of their background, wealth or status. Whilst I would much rather that we all came together behind something more action orientated that makes a real difference, I am not adverse to commonality conversations. These are starting points that hopefully can lead to us all taking more of an interest in other people around us.
We seem to live in a world where complaints rather than compliments are the norm. Some of our local politicians appear to constantly complain about cuts and how poor our region is, rather than recognising the amazing opportunities available in our area, together with exploring better ways of working. The more the politicians keep stating things are bad, the more local communities assume that position and others switch off. This rhetoric starts affecting the mind-set of our local people and before you know it we have third and fourth generations of unemployment with no ambition or aspiration.
In any business, it is incumbent upon the leader to demonstrate leadership and motivate the workforce to engender a sense of achievement, accomplishment and show them a better way. We should be able to expect the same from political leaders too. Yet if all we do is complain about our lot, how can we expect anything different from our people, how do we provide them with hope?
The North East is an incredible land filled with opportunity. We have one of the fastest growing tech sectors, which is worth £1bn. Our arts and culture offer is world class, and as we embark upon delivering the biggest event in England this year with the Great Exhibition of the North, we will further showcase this. We have the friendliest of people. Our Universities are some of the best in the world. Our industrial, manufacturing, automotive, offshore, and life science offer is considered to be pioneering, and the list goes on.
We have so much to be thankful for and to get behind, which is exactly what we should all be doing. Promoting opportunities to our future generations, equipping them with the personal and professional skills to achieve their ambitions, but more importantly instilling a ‘can do attitude’ through positive reinforcement and compliments.
I love my island. The United Kingdom, and in particular the North East is the greatest place in the world to live, we just need to believe and promote this a little more…
