Kindly be apolitical on #LinkedIn please

I am apolitical on LinkedIn. That means, beyond the linked definition, I am not deliberately endorsing or criticizing a policy, a candidate, an elected official, or a government in whole or in part. In today’s polarized world, that includes not dissecting or blaspheming a person’s/persons’ reputation/s or ideology/ies.

To be certain: those types of actions are not allowed according to LinkedIn’s standards:

“We do not allow hate speech acts like attacking people because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, political or religious affiliations, or medical or physical condition.” 

Discussion is good, interaction is what makes social media great. But it has to be used professionally in the case of LinkedIn. I will not reduce my passion to express what I believe is right or wrong; rather, I am just tempering the words in this medium to speak calmly and intelligently to a specific audience. To you. And the others you are associated, connected, and influence.

So I will urge us all (myself included): as we approach new elections in 2019 and 2020, let’s be professional and kind.

I will, as I did 4 years ago, soon analyze the final candidates’ LinkedIn profiles from a LinkedIn profile technician's POV and draw some conclusions for you to think about. Not that I want you to vote for him or her, just consider another aspect of their political brand as it relates to those of us who believe LinkedIn is a valid marketplace of thought currency in our business lives.

Is that asking too much in a politically charged election coming at up in soundbites and news blips that hurt and malign, without associative context or true rational thought, when we should fact-check and understand the implications of what we read and say?

Is political fervor the new reason families cannot sit at a table civilly to discuss current events without permanent disruption and misspoken condemnations?

Is the new world order of beliefs, another reason colleagues cleave their business worldview into black and white and stop collaborating in a few shades of gray?

Realizing that we all approach a topic with blinders, lenses, and outside and internal influences and biases, let’s just be kind in all our dealings.

Political comedy and satire are allowed, elsewhere. Not here.

Fear may swirl in your head and beat in your heart, but it is not allowed to be injected here, in any form, surrounding discourse and discussion about a business topic.

I know this as recently I linked an article in a post about a downturn in nonprofit donations, post-new-tax-law, which one would think benign topic, and felt the wrath of a few people whom I do know even know go after me, unprofessionally, just short of personally.

Not wishing to sound paranoid, but they may even come back at me for this written piece of my thinking. That’s the thing about LinkedIn, the more you publish, the more others whom you have no knowledge can see you. That’s a great thing and IMHO, in a few instances, a mild detriment.

But each day and weekdaily blog and information I share here to my connections; I move forward with my thinking and my writing.

Yet I won't be stopping to appease a few. To them, you can unfollow me on LinkedIn, you can even disconnect from me if you feel so strongly, though I hope you will not, but that’s always your prerogative.

To the rest of you, I am undeterred from adding my own special sauce of thought-ful leadership here. You have expressed your pleasure and, sometimes professional disagreement, with what I write. But let’s add to each other’s knowledge, rather than tear it away with caustic words and tone.

Be kind. Be professional.

Be the type of person you would want to do business with on LinkedIn.

_______________________________

About Marc W. Halpert, LinkedIn Trainer and Evangelist

I am a “multi-preneur,” (www.linkedin.com/in/marchalpert) having started 3 companies, all of which I continue to operate. My latest business, connect2collaborate, spreads my LinkedIn and networking evangelism worldwide to train and coach others to better explain their brand and positioning on their LinkedIn profile pages:

• as an “evangelist” to help nonprofits cultivate talent pool, volunteers, boards, and corporate sponsors.
• as a corporate trainer for departments needing to know how to optimize LinkedIn for their responsible areas.
• as a coach helping professional practitioners in all industries use LinkedIn to better achieve their goals.
• as a high-energy speaker at conferences.
• as a volunteer coaching and teaching underemployed baby boomers to master new better career objectives.

I blog daily on LinkedIn topics to encourage readers towards a more beneficial use of this amazing tool. I speak about LinkedIn at public events and private corporate sessions too.

Each year I “niche out” a population to teach LinkedIn best practices. In past years I have served lawyers and professional practitioners, and nonprofit professionals. I have authored two books on LinkedIn: the first one was published by the American Bar Association “LinkedIn Marketing Techniques for Law and Professional Practices” was released June 2017 and "You, Us, Them, LinkedIn Marketing Concepts for Nonprofit Professionals Who Really Want to Make A Difference" in June 2018. Both are on Amazon in paper and e-book. The second book also has a companion online e-course to complement it, available here.

Next month I will grand-announce my new "LinkedIn for Baby Boomers and Other Encore Career Seekers" online e-course. Psst--it's available now! At a reduced price too!

I encourage my fellow professionals, of all stripes, to make LinkedIn a central part of telling their career story, their “why,” and find their voice to offer their rich expertise earned over years (or decades), embrace new professional friendships, and nurture collaboration. And be kind, people.