The other day I wrote a blog called, "An Ethical Dilemma - To Stand or Not" that told the story of my going to a
concert where the US Marine Corp had come on stage in order to recruit. The MC attempted to cloak this recruiting effort in a veil of patriotism by encouraging everyone "to stand to show our support for the troops".
I was in somewhat of an awkward position in that we were attending the concert as a guest of my girlfriend's employer and I am animately against the War in Iraq, as well as the idea of recruiting young people to fight in it. The long and the short of it was that I sat my fat ass back down and didn't participate. My girlfriend saw my actions and even though we were the only people in that box to have done so, she joined me in sitting down.
The next day I wrote about the experience in a public post and one of my regular readers questioned me about whether or not I should be so public in my disapproval of the war. He asked me during the phone conversation if I wasn't afraid of alienating a potential client who may read this post, if they disagree with me.
I thought about it.
"Hmmmm, yeah it's one thing to have an opinion, but it's another thing to express it publicly. Especially if the subject of that opinion is fairly controversial."
But then I thought about it more and came to the conclusion that as long as I'm respectful and am careful to examine both sides of an issue, why should somebody be alienated because of my political opinion? If they are too closed minded to accept the fact that I am a caring, thinking individual who retains his right to be able to express his opinions, then screw them! I probably wouldn't want to work with them anyway!
Not that I don't need the money...did I mention that I still have two kids in college? But when it comes to important issues of the day such as the War In Iraq or Global Warming or the legalization of drugs, don't I almost have a responsibility to utilize what limited bully pulpit I command to get the word out? Especially considering that some of my views are what you might call controversial? If I don't speak out for them, who will?
So, from a business point of view I guess that it comes down to doing the math. Do I gain more business from writing about my views than I lose because some people won't agree with me? I honestly don't know.
I do know that I had a polysci professor in college who told me, "Bob, it's not important what they remember you for as much as it is that they remember you!" He then went on to predict that eventually, that if he lived long enough, that Richard Nixon would be labeled an "Elder Statesmen". About a year before his death I noticed a news magazine that had the title, "Richard Nixon, An Elder Statesman?" Pretty wild, huh?
A while back I got into a fight with the Better Business Bureau here in St. Louis. They were pissed off at me
because I had mentioned on my web site that, "I was a proud member of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois". This was a true and accurate statement.
When they wrote me a nasty letter demanding that I remove that statement from my web site, I wrote them back and had the audacity to ask them why? They wrote me a nastier letter back stating that it was against the organizations by-laws to publicly state that you were a member...that is...unless you paid them an additional fee in order to be able to say that!
I'll be honest,
I thought that was unethical for them to behave that way and I told them. Long story short, I got booted because I refused to apologize for having told people in the first place that I was a member and for calling them a secret society on par with the Ku Klux Klan and The American Nazi Party!
They issued a press release announcing my having been booted and I did what I think every thinking business person would have done at that point, I called a reporter!
A local columnist, Bill McClellan wrote about our fight in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. After his article appeared, I received hundreds of phone calls, emails and letters telling me how much they appreciated my standing up to the BBB. I only got a couple that thought that I was out of line. As a result of the fight and the story I ended up picking up several transactions that I wouldn't have if I hadn't been willing to stand up for what I thought was right.
So, the conclusion that I've come to is that it makes business sense to be willing to express my views as long as I do it in a respectful manner. I'm curious though,what do you guys think?
R.B. "Bob" Mitchell
ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.
Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com
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Bob,
I agree with you completely....and I think it's a very sad day when the army starts trying to pull young people in by giving a pep talk at a concert that has nothing to do with war or the army. Wow. The USA is becoming very Orwellian.
Jo