Business is Personal

If you’re reading this you probably own a business, right?

I am guessing that your business caters to all types of people.  I am guessing when someone reaches out to buy something, whether a product or service, you don’t ask them what color their skin is, what religion they are or what their sexual orientation is. That’s because it doesn’t matter. Business is business…right?

Wrong. Money won’t discriminate, but people can.

Business is personal, it’s a people to people exchange.  People buy products and or services from you.

So here’s a very important question you need to ask yourself…

Do you stand up for your customers? 

Or do you go quiet when something happens in society, like what happened in #Charlottesville? Do you consider that the very people being impacted could be your customers, your friends, your colleagues, or maybe even your family?

One of my dearest friends who passed away last year taught me about The Holocaust.

One of my closest mentors is Asian.

One of the kindest and most generous people I know is Gay.

One of the smartest women I know is Black.

One of the most inspiring guys I know is from Africa.  He runs a VERY successful business and has mentored over 1200 refugees because he wants to help them adapt to the North American culture.

These are people who are very dear to me and I’d take a stand for them anytime.

This week, for the first time in my life, companies have started taking a stand for inclusion, and against hate too.

GoDaddy booted a neo-Nazi site after they posted a derogatory story on the Charlottesville victim. http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/us/godaddy-daily-stormer-website-trnd/index.html

The chairman and CEO of Merck, Kenneth C. Frazier shared this on Twitter:

Janina Kugel, the CHRO of Siemens posted this:

TIKI Brand shared this on Facebook after their product was used by the Alt-Right:

The chief executives of Merck, Under Armour, Intel as well as five other leaders, (as of the writing of this) have quit a presidential manufacturing council this week after the president of The United States took two days to denounce white supremacy.

Businesses are taking a stand against hate. Leaders are speaking out against what happened because business IS personal.

You can’t do business with all types of people and then abdicate responsibility for inclusion.

Speaking out is uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable for me to write this because I don’t feel like I know all the facts.  I do know one thing – people matter to me and waiting for “someone” else to speak out isn’t enough. I am someone, and so are you.

This is what I shared on my personal Facebook profile this weekend.  I couldn’t find the right words, and I couldn’t leave it and say nothing.  If you feel the same, feel free to share my words, or share your own.  https://www.facebook.com/lisalarter/posts/10154617794776949?pnref=story

“If you can’t perspective take, you can’t practice empathy.” <– If you don’t understand this, you need to watch this video from Brene Brown.

Some people say silence is being complicit.  While I don’t advocate shaming people into speaking up, I do hope that I inspire you to think about what is happening in the world right now and ask yourself if you want to be a bystander or a participant.

I have chosen to speak up.  I want people to know, I stand for fairness and equality for all.  It’s 2017, isn’t it time?

Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve spoken up on behalf of yourself and your business. I’d love to hear what you have to say.