Yesterday was a pretty wild day for me. I got a phone call from a friend & business associate that really tripped me out. On the call, my friend was questioning me about the boldness of my Christian faith and the way that I put that forth so strongly in the business world. I don't mind the dialog at all, but I was just surprised that it came up the way it did. He was specifically commenting about the Diamond Dwellings mission statement which proclaims that Jesus Christ is firmly at the center of our lives - and our business - here at Diamond Dwellings.
That dialog led to conversations with several other friends of ours in the RE.net world about whether religion (or politics) should be discussed in a business setting. (NOTE: Religion and Faith are NOT the same thing. I actually HATE religion and rules and guilt and "the law". But, I LOVE God and love my faith)
Anyway, the discussion went on and it seemed to be the consensus of the others in the group that "religion" & politics should be left out of the conversation in business environments in order to appeal to the largest possible audience and I guess to avoid any sticky discussions about exactly what we do or do not believe about it all.
So, now I've had 24 hours to think about it (at length) and I have to say that I totally and completely disagree. What's more, I think that it's ironic that open-minded, forward-thinking "2.0 people" would feel this way. When I first drank the 2.0 coolaid about 18 months ago, everyone was talking about "The Long Tail". The point was (and still is) that your online blogging & personna creates a very clearly defined impression for the world of exactly who you are & what you think. As far as I'm concerned, that also includes religion, politics, sexual orientation, marital status and every other thing that defines "me". All of it boils down to transparency - a trait that we all seem to pay homage to here in the RE.net world. It seems to me that the more you limit your own transparency (to safe subjects?) the less you will benefit from the true "long tail"
In a perfect world, that long tail definition of who you are should lead you directly to relationships with exactly those customers and business partners who know who you are & want to do business with you, specifically, because of who you are.
I don't know about you, but that is exactly what I want. And, I'm willing to take the risk of total transparency in order to follow the long tail search to it's conclusion and find "my customer(s)".
A note about being exclusionary... ...I am in NO Way saying that you should only do business with those who think the way you do. I would love to do business with anyone and everyone of all beliefs and backgrounds. If I'm willing to accept what you think and believe, you should be willing to accept me no matter what I think and believe. If you are not able to do that, I don't think I want to do business with you anyway.
To my friends who were on the call yesterday... ...I love you guys & I'm not trying to stir up any ill will between us. I just really think that this subject needs open discussion and debate.
To all of you in the A/R world... ...I'd really like to hear your opinions. So please comment.
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