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How Social Media Challenges Your Business Ethics and Values

Guest post by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Article Overview: Being connected with the desire to increase sales can cause specific challenges respective to business ethics and values. Possibly you may be sacrificing your own ethics because to go with the flow is easier when times are tough and sales are hard to come by,.

How Social Media Challenges Your Business Ethics and Values

"Walk the Talk" is a book title from Simple Truths and one I encourage people to purchase because it is not only a easy read and affordable, but a powerful one as well. One question in this book is "What does it take to walk the talk?"



This question is one that I continually answer or wrestle with for myself as sometimes it is far more easier to respond reactively than to be proactive specific to my business ethics and values. In today's very rich social media environment, some people are quite offended if you do not reach out to them even though to do so would be against your own ethics (better judgment) or would not be in alignment with your written marketing plan.

Every day many business owners and professionals get requests to befriend this or that friend or business, follow this person or get connected to another professional. Yet some of these requests may create angst because you as a professional know the person making the request does not share your same values or ethics either from your personal dealings, your intuitive gut feelings or the trusted words of others. Business Coaching Tip: Ask yourself is this a person you would like to enjoy nice and leisurely dinner?

So what do you do to walk the talk? Do you agree and then wonder if other people have similar knowledge about this person? However then you rationalize it by some reasoning mechanism such as:

• I'm just connecting with him or her.
• I'm not making a recommendation or actually buying his or her products or services?
• Everyone else does it. This is no big deal?
• By not connecting I may be losing a sale?
• I do not want him or her to think bad of me?

Social media in business as well as the turbulent economy not to mention the news where we view bad business ethics have created a very real challenge, in my opinion, for people to walk the talk. There is negativity in the market place and people now have more public opportunities to share their negativity about your marketing messages. Again, you can react and possibly violate your positive core values or you can be proactive by continuing to walk your talk and remember:

• Are your words and actions kind?
• Are your words and actions necessary?
• Are your words and actions truthful?
• Is silence your better response?

Staying the course to your business ethics is one that continues every day you are engaged in those business activities from marketing to selling to administrative tasks. How you demonstrate your words and actions will truly reflect your leadership and identify you as a Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits.

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Article Tags: business ethics, business ethics and values, marketing plan, social media



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