The Imperative of Respectful Discourse: A Request to My Colleagues

Today I unfollowed someone on LinkedIn; I’m done reading what this person writes or posts. This unnamed individual once again responded to a post about a political candidate that was unnecessarily petty and mean. It was written at the sophomoric level I might expect of a ‘mean girl’ in high school, without discernment of the place in which they were writing or the diversity of opinions that might exist around the particular topic. Regardless of whether I sometimes actually agree with this individual’s opinions, I think the level of discourse is beneath them and beneath all of us as professionals.

 I read LinkedIn posts to learn about what others are doing, to celebrate with them their work accomplishments, to get ideas based on what other companies (and sometimes competitors) are doing, and to link with my fellow business professionals around issues that impact all of us. I don’t think that I’m in the minority for using LinkedIn this way. LinkedIn should be—like all business communication—civil, open-minded, and considerate of others’ opinions, even—and especially—when others disagree with us.

So, why is this a business issue? Two reasons:

First, I think all of us have to be careful about what we post in this and all business forums. Our clients, colleagues, partners, and work friends will read what we write and form opinions about how we are to work with, how we might respond to sensitive issues on projects, and/or how we might work with others with divergent opinions.

Second, when we write petty, overly partisan, or ‘mean’ comments that are political or socially questionable, we broadcast our lack of sensitivity and our inability to discern based on the nature of the event or context. I’m not sure which of these is worse.

The really awful part of these types of posts, even beyond how they reflect on us personally, is that they can result in others making assumptions about our firms and our teams. Particularly when we hold a leadership position in our organizations or on our projects, what we write and what we say reflects on how others perceive our firms and our teams. For the reader, when they see our titles of president, vice-president, chairman of the board, etc.; it’s reasonable for them to think that we speak for our organizations. It’s reasonable to expect that we speak for our teams. It’s reasonable to expect that we reflect the best of those we represent.

So here’s the ask: Let’s all commit to being mindful of what we say, do, and write. Our world is so divided politically, socially, economically. Though businesses can and do take positions on issues and politics, we can and should be civil and kind in our discourse. We should encourage a diversity of opinions, and we should disagree respectfully.

To the vast majority of my colleagues who communicate sensitively and who steward the impressions others have of our organizations and teams, thank you. LinkedIn is a valuable forum for the open sharing of business news and ideas. I for one would like to see it stay that way. Wouldn’t you?

Thank you.