{"id":1015,"date":"2017-03-03T18:46:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firsteval.com\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2020-06-17T00:13:28","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T00:13:28","slug":"careful-line-entrepreneurs-guide-managing-personal-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firsteval.com\/careful-line-entrepreneurs-guide-managing-personal-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"A Careful Line \u2013 An Entrepreneur\u2019s Guide to Managing Personal Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

As humans, we are relational, and politics is an extension of our humanity.\u00a0 As entrepreneurs and business founders, our businesses are our lives and an encompassing part of our identity.\u00a0 So should our politics be a public-facing part of our business?\u00a0 Can and should we separate the political and professional parts of ourselves?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s think this through.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First, we must consider the potential impact on our relationships with current and potential clients.\u00a0 What if we don\u2019t know our customers\u2019 politics, and they don\u2019t match our own?\u00a0 Or, what if we do know that our customers\u2019 politics span from red to blue, so in being political, we run the risk of offending a portion of our customer base?<\/p>\n

If our business serves the general public, our brand runs the risk of social media wrath for being on the wrong side of our customers\u2019 politics, as happened with Uber<\/a> and Starbucks<\/a>.\u00a0 Even if we claim our actions are profit-motivated, our business actions risk being interpreted as political, as happened with Nordstrom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If our business serves other businesses, making our personal political views known risks weakening the personal connections that comprise our client base.<\/p>\n

There are good reasons to keep our politics quiet in our professional world.<\/p>\n

But lately, we may feel that the role of politics in our lives has been amplified.\u00a0 And, our businesses are literally our lives.\u00a0 There is no nine-to-five division between our work lives and our personal lives.\u00a0 As humans and entrepreneurs and thought leaders in our fields, should we stay silent when wearing our professional hat?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to differentiate between politics and public policies.\u00a0 Collectively, we\u2019ve defined politics as agreeing with a party\u2019s platform and their representatives, the values these parties and candidates pronounce, and the surrounding debate or conflict.\u00a0 Public policies, on the other hand, include legislation and regulations that already exist and may affect our businesses and how we do business.\u00a0 In politics, there is room for debate over values and beliefs that candidates haven\u2019t yet embedded in their proposed policies.\u00a0 But with policies, our debate and concern is more consumed with how existing policies affect our livelihoods.<\/p>\n

I propose that as entrepreneurs, this is where we carefully draw the line.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how I do it.<\/p>\n

For me, through my data analytics consulting firm, FirstEval<\/a>, I have clear business reasons for caring about open data policies, government use of data, data privacy, and data access policies for my clients.\u00a0 As these policies emerge and change, I agnostically broadcast these changes to my followers and clients via social media<\/a>, blog<\/a>, and a newsletter.\u00a0 As a thought leader in the field of all-things-data, it\u2019s my role to highlight trends in external forces influencing the availability and quality of data.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not my role to broadcast to my clients<\/em> my opinions on candidates\u2019 views on issues that do not directly affect my business with my clients, like women\u2019s reproductive rights or foreign policy.\u00a0 As Carol Roth warns here<\/a>, potential clients may have a tough time separating individuals from their businesses, resulting in a loss of profits.\u00a0 Such opinions could alienate potential clients.<\/p>\n

These are my own guidelines and where I\u2019ve drawn lines for my professional presence.<\/p>\n

Yet some argue that as thought leaders, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs, we have a duty to stand up for our values.\u00a0 After all, aren\u2019t politics just a reflection of our convictions?\u00a0 So, if our businesses are ourselves, shouldn\u2019t our businesses reflect what we believe?\u00a0 In this age of hyper-partisanship, should profits come second after values?\u00a0 Carrie Ingoglia urges<\/a> us to not dismiss our personal politics, and to look at the big picture.\u00a0 Her industry (advertising) has power and a platform, and shouldn\u2019t be silent at work, she states.<\/p>\n

What does this mean and what would this look like?\u00a0 In a recent meeting with fellow consultants, we discussed whether this would mean knowing your clients\u2019 values before you agreed to a relationship with them.\u00a0 Would it mean being brave enough to have your laptop covered in political stickers and taking it into a pitch meeting?\u00a0 For companies like REI and Patagonia this means making their values (stewardship, ethics, and integrity) known and public, regardless of the resulting effect on market share.<\/p>\n

As entrepreneurs, our businesses are ourselves, and we get to choose where these lines are drawn.\u00a0 I choose to keep my personal politics and activism away from my firm\u2019s persona, but I operate my business fiercely clinging to my own values of honesty, transparency, follow-through, acceptance, openness, efficiency, respect, kindness, shared prosperity, and gratitude.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t ascribe political labels to these values.\u00a0 And, when policy change affects my industry and my clients, I shout about it.<\/p>\n

So, Startup Rockstar, you get to choose where your political line is between personal and professional.\u00a0 Choose thoughtfully and stick to it.<\/p>\n

(p.s. special thanks to Beth Lewallen<\/a> for thinking through this topic with me!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As humans, we are relational, and politics is an extension of our humanity.\u00a0 As entrepreneurs and business founders, our businesses are our lives and an encompassing part of our identity.\u00a0 So should our politics be a public-facing part of our business?\u00a0 Can and should we separate the political and professional parts of ourselves? Let\u2019s think …<\/p>\n

A Careful Line \u2013 An Entrepreneur\u2019s Guide to Managing Personal Politics<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[77,101,102,103],"yoast_head":"\nA Careful Line \u2013 An Entrepreneur\u2019s Guide to Managing Personal Politics - FirstEval-Melissa Kovacs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As entrepreneurs, should we make our personal political views known publicly?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/firsteval.com\/careful-line-entrepreneurs-guide-managing-personal-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Careful Line \u2013 An Entrepreneur\u2019s Guide to Managing Personal Politics - 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