Hugo Schwyzer

I’m very much in “summer hiatus” mode, with somewhat less time for and interest in blogging than usual. Nothing wrong with that.

I confess today a strange fascination with Gordon Ramsay, the celebrity chef whose restaurants, books, and television shows have won him a huge following on both sides of the Atlantic. He’s just about my age, a fellow 40 year-old marathon runner. I’m a loyal watcher of his shows on both Fox and BBC America, and I admit I find him to be an extraordinarily compelling figure. I even bought his autobiography last week.

Ramsay has no love for vegans, is notoriously temperamental, and is consistently foul-mouthed. He played for Rangers, for Pete’s sake; and I’m a fairly strong supporter of Celtic when it comes to the Glasgow derby. But at least on television, his tirades are balanced with what seems to be genuine tenderness and compassion. (I’m well aware that TV personas are often very different from real-life ones.) On his “Hell’s Kitchen” show, he berates and demeans the various chefs competing for the top prizes, and yet he also manages — or so it seems — to give each of them the kind of thoughtful, insightful reassurance that they need in order to move to the next level of their craft.

My fondness for Ramsay is similar to my fondness for Bobby Knight, of which I have written before. Though my own dear, late father was an exceedingly gentle and loving man, the sort from whom I almost never heard a harsh word, in my own life I’ve always responded very well to coaches and mentors whose personalities are mercurial and volcanic. I am one of those people who sometimes only does his absolute best when he is shouted at; I was one of those boys whose desire to please an authority figure was directly related to how stinting that professor or coach was with his praise.

In my teaching style, I am no Gordon Ramsay or Bobby Knight. I do have more of a temper in person than it might appear from this blog, however. I know, too, that what makes some students blossom makes others wilt. The great trick of teaching and youth ministry is adapting one’s style to the particular needs of the young people with whom one is working. Some folks need to be pushed, and pushed hard or they’ll sit there like bumps on a log; others, if pushed too much, retreat into shells and become hopelessly passive.

I’ve had a lot of teachers, mentors, and coaches in my life. (I work with a writing coach now, though I don’t employ her services on this blog). I appreciate warmth and encouragement, but I also appreciate being pushed — and pushed hard. I’ve had a few mentors who could be brutally tough on me (my longest-serving Twelve Step sponsor was a delightful mix of Coach Knight, Chef Ramsay and Mike Ditka), and I thrived under that mix of brutal candor, judicious sarcasm, and subtle encouragement.

I have my own inner Bobby Knight/Gordon Ramsay, and, when provoked, it takes a tremendous exertion of self-control to not imitate their behavior with students, colleagues, and my fellow inhabitants of greater Los Angeles. But I do take vicarious delight in watching men like that at work, and am eagerly anticipating the season finale of “Hell’s Kitchen” next week.