Our culture of business has come out of the industrial revolution, it is still primarily male-centric and from the 80’s there is a culture of each for themselves, the hype and bluster of promotion and a lack of authenticity in any social dealings.
We were expected to present the best side only, to constantly one up each other and it seems a habit of dumping those that did not follow our lead or actively support us in our striving for wealth and success.
How is that going for our society so far? What are the big challenges for people in the work force and in business? And why are those issues arising?
Depression? Anxiety? A sense of “not worthy”, of not “being good enough” in their field, in life, in how they look, speak, present to the world. On one hand you have people beating themselves up over unachieved expectations, then you have others that are hell bent on their own success and don’t have any social conscience at all.
Where do we draw the lines?
Have you heard the term “tribe” more frequently lately, perhaps more so in women’s groups? If you want authenticity, and in particular kind and positive ethics, then you need to find your tribe.
I want people in my life who believe in loyalty, in friendship (even if you are not “doing” the same business) I have observed some that say “if they don’t join you then fuck em” well sorry but that is never going to be my way.
But you counter, if they don’t join you, then they are not in your tribe? Well my tribe does not consist of one trade, we can’t all be bakers or butchers, it takes a whole range of careers to make a tribe work.
And there is another reason too, I never want to make an offer to someone, have them turn me down and then drop them like a hot rock. If you did that to me I would be both hurt and offended. Why would I do that to another? I don’t want people to think I am only interested in what they can do for me, there are practical business reasons for that too.
If I maintain my ethics and remain kind, polite and friendly,
- They may refer someone else to me.
- They will speak kindly of me if they hear my name mentioned
- Should they choose to opt for what I do, they will come to me, not someone else
- If a person has joined me and later bailed on that opportunity, then want to rejoin me then they will approach me. (This happened for me last week).
People are sick to death of being phoned up and sold to, we need to find softer ways to build businesses, old fashioned ways where word of mouth was paramount.
With social media anyone choosing rudeness, or selfishness is soon outed, people who lie and cheat are constantly being caught out, and those that make public statements (all social media is public, like it or not) will suffer the consequences, if not now, then certainly later.
If you say one thing then a week or month later say the opposite, without being straight about changing your mind, learning or being wrong then that too will be perceived as insincere.
So my statement to you is this, if you are a friend, you will remain a friend unless you are so crass, rude, abusive or horrid that you really do not fit my tribe. This is not meant harshly, we are all human and make mistakes, we all react sometimes before thinking.
I was once asked why I remained friends with someone who I had chosen to unfollow on Facebook, my response was and is this “I don’t have to see what that person posts, but what if one day I say or share just one thing that makes them stop and think, what if one little picture changes their life for the better, why would I remove that opportunity from them?” That to me would be cruel.
Think about what you stand for, think about the ethics you wish to be known for? Do you want to be know for being a marketing bully, or someone who others can approach any time and when asked will also share their industry/ company offers?
Share your thoughts in the comment box below and let's keep elevating our authenticity and ethics.
Luv
