{"id":615,"date":"2017-10-10T16:51:06","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T23:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/?p=615"},"modified":"2018-10-16T16:48:52","modified_gmt":"2018-10-16T23:48:52","slug":"politics-thought-leadership-and-morals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals"},"content":{"rendered":"
As a member of the board of my local chapter of the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), I was involved in a conversation about should we be talking politics. We didn\u2019t come to a conclusion.<\/p>\n
Also with that group, I\u2019ve been in conversations about thought leadership \u2013 what is it and who are some current thought leaders. Those conversations frequently lead to the heads of large corporations and how, in this social media age, they are not allowed to not express their opinions on current events. At a recent event I attended on Corporate Social Responsibility, this topic lead to the very good question of:<\/p>\n
Since when are corporate leaders supposed to be our moral compasses?<\/h1>\n
I have several knee-jerk responses:<\/p>\n
\n
They\u2019re not mine.<\/li>\n
If no one else is willing to do it …?<\/li>\n
At least they aren\u2019t (for the most part) shoving God down my throat.<\/li>\n
And our politicians are doing so well?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
There is a very thin line between my personal self and my business self \u2013 so thin that most people have a hard time finding it. However, in business-ish settings, I try to leave politics and religion outside of the conversation. The problem for me is that I tend to do business with people I like and who have similar opinions. Or, that I like and like to horrify with my opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n
That said, when it comes to my moral compass: I have one, IT IS VERY STRONG<\/span>,<\/strong> and it is not based on God. I feel extremely fortunate that my parents raised my sister and me with the morality you\u2019ll find in most religions without a religious bent. You don\u2019t hurt, steal, or kill because those behaviors are not acceptable in our society \u2013 not because God is going to strike you down.<\/p>\n
I do believe that religion has its place. Yet, from my experience, the more vocally religious someone is the farther away from the actual teachings of their religion they are. Thus, the religious leaders that aim to be the moral compass of our society are not the ones I want anything to do with.<\/p>\n
One of those VERY STRONG<\/strong><\/span> points of my moral compass is the separation of Church and State. That means that there is absolutely no place for religion in the administration of our country. Similarly, there is absolutely no place for politics in my morality. As long as I\u2019m not hurting, stealing, or killing, the government has no right to think they have a say in how I conduct myself.<\/p>\n
So, if my government isn\u2019t allowed a say in my behavior (other than hurting, stealing, and killing), why should a corporation? Historically, corporations are not known for their good behavior.<\/p>\nIt’s Thought Leader Man<\/strong><\/span>! Is he faster than a speeding bullet? Can he jump tall buildings in a single bound? NO! But he can sway public opinion!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
And this brings me to a fundamental truth that makes many people uncomfortable: businesses stop killing, polluting, and doing other \u201cbad\u201d things when it becomes cheaper not to. Prime example, my first industry: mining. Mining companies stop killing people when the fines and lawsuits make it cheaper to implement effective safety measures. Similarly, mining companies stop polluting the air and water when the fines and lawsuits make it cheaper to implement cleaner processes.<\/p>\n
The panelists at the Corporate Social Responsibility event were the first to admit that giving back is good for their bottom line. The customer base cares more about how corporations behave \u2013 moving their business to companies who hold similar ideas as to what is right and wrong.<\/p>\n
And this, finally, brings me to my somewhat more considered response to the question of corporate leaders being moral compasses: they aren\u2019t; we are theirs. They, however, have a much bigger voice. That voice gives them influence and the ability to spread the ideals of their customer base \u2013 because those ideals are the ones that make them money which makes them big corporations.<\/p>\n
As a member of the board of my local chapter of the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), I was involved in a conversation about should we be talking politics. We didn\u2019t come to a conclusion. Also with that group, I\u2019ve been in conversations about thought leadership \u2013 what is it and who are some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-ownership","category-rants"],"yoast_head":"\n
Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals - Tora Writing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals - Tora Writing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a member of the board of my local chapter of the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), I was involved in a conversation about should we be talking politics. We didn\u2019t come to a conclusion. Also with that group, I\u2019ve been in conversations about thought leadership \u2013 what is it and who are some […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tora Writing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ToraWriting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-10T23:51:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-16T23:48:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Moral-Compass-1024x691.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"691\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lorrie Nicoles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ToraWriting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ToraWriting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lorrie Nicoles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lorrie Nicoles\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b\"},\"headline\":\"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-10T23:51:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-16T23:48:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":681,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Moral-Compass.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business Ownership\",\"Rants\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/\",\"name\":\"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals - Tora Writing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Moral-Compass.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-10T23:51:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-16T23:48:52+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Moral-Compass.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Moral-Compass.jpeg\",\"width\":5654,\"height\":3815},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tora Writing\",\"description\":\"Making the World More Understandable\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tora Writing Services\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/kanji-and-Title.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/kanji-and-Title.jpg\",\"width\":1487,\"height\":313,\"caption\":\"Tora Writing Services\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ToraWriting\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ToraWriting\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/lorrienicoles\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b\",\"name\":\"Lorrie Nicoles\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lorrie Nicoles\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals - Tora Writing","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals - Tora Writing","og_description":"As a member of the board of my local chapter of the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), I was involved in a conversation about should we be talking politics. We didn\u2019t come to a conclusion. Also with that group, I\u2019ve been in conversations about thought leadership \u2013 what is it and who are some […]","og_url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/","og_site_name":"Tora Writing","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ToraWriting\/","article_published_time":"2017-10-10T23:51:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-16T23:48:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":691,"url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Moral-Compass-1024x691.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lorrie Nicoles","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ToraWriting","twitter_site":"@ToraWriting","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lorrie Nicoles","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/"},"author":{"name":"Lorrie Nicoles","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/person\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b"},"headline":"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals","datePublished":"2017-10-10T23:51:06+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-16T23:48:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/"},"wordCount":681,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Moral-Compass.jpeg","articleSection":["Business Ownership","Rants"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/","name":"Politics, Thought Leadership, and Morals - Tora Writing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Moral-Compass.jpeg","datePublished":"2017-10-10T23:51:06+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-16T23:48:52+00:00","inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/politics-thought-leadership-and-morals\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Moral-Compass.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Moral-Compass.jpeg","width":5654,"height":3815},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#website","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/","name":"Tora Writing","description":"Making the World More Understandable","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#organization","name":"Tora Writing Services","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/kanji-and-Title.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/kanji-and-Title.jpg","width":1487,"height":313,"caption":"Tora Writing Services"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ToraWriting\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ToraWriting","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lorrienicoles\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/person\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b","name":"Lorrie Nicoles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lorrie Nicoles"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":617,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions\/617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"It's](\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Thought-Leader-300x300.jpeg\")