Hey, everybody. Charlie Hauck — founder, president, head trainer, and coach at Growth Dynamics. And I'm gonna talk about a little bit of a touchy subject that's happening out there in our world today.
And I don't care where you are, who you are, what you sell, or where you sell it — it's in front of each and every one of us every single day, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. And I almost don't care how hard you try to avoid it — it ain't gonna happen.
And that is the touchy subject of talking about politics and your personal beliefs in the business arena. I gotta admit — whichever side of the political spectrum you're starting from in today's world — don't forget that every opportunity feels like the right opportunity to share your beliefs and your passions and your values, and think it's appropriate to do it in the business setting.
I do work with a lot of people in a lot of different businesses with a lot of ethnic backgrounds. And I have to admit that it's a very, very touchy — but still tempting — topic. I just wanna find out what you believe. I just wanna find out if you agree with me. I just wanna find out if you value the same things that I value.
Bad things are typically the only things that are gonna happen when you decide to cross that boundary and decide that you should share what you think is right — and why everybody else is wrong. It ain't the right place to do it, no matter how it happens or who starts the conversation. You've got to have a lot of ego discipline to not take the bait and jump in and decide that you should argue whether we should take the government apart, leave the government alone, pay Social Security, defund Social Security, help the rest of the world, or not help the rest of the world.
I can give you 100 reasons that I've heard — and some of them are mine — for either end of that conversation. When you want to get to the end of the day, and you want to sit in a private setting and have that conversation — have at it. I'm all for it. I think freedom of expression is enormously valuable.
I don't think it's enormously valuable — nor do I think it's correct professionally — for you to take your business opportunities, in your business environment, to throw that stuff on the table and think something good is gonna happen because of it. There's way too many things going on in everybody's life for us to understand, at that moment, why they believe what they believe — what's happened that tells them that's the right thing to believe.
So I'm asking us all — me included — let's put the political divisions on the sidelines and just talk about doing business from basically 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Let the world continue on its own without us having to express our opinions and our ideas. It is what it is, and I'm not here to make you do what I want you to do — and I hope you feel the same way about me.
I'll listen to your argument — whether or not I agree with it, we can figure that out. But I don't want to do it during business hours, and I'd like you to honor that with other people. You've got to learn how to end those conversations. It's a touchy subject — I just don't know that we have the time for it.
Now, put it aside, move on, get back to business, and get out of there before you get trapped. It's a dangerous, dangerous place. And frankly, in my lifetime of almost 70 years, I've never seen anything as volatile as what we're dealing with now. And as passionate as I am about some things, I gotta bite my tongue. Let you believe what you believe — but I don't need to know about it, and I don't need to tell you what I believe either. Take the higher road. Let things go where they wanna go.
And don't feel that the business setting is the right time or place for you to decide what you have to throw on the table about what is right or wrong with this country — or any other country. Sorry, folks. It ain't business. Don’t do it. Subtle reminder.
Thanks for letting me express that opinion. Have a great Friday and a great weekend — and argue all you want. Just get it done by Monday morning. Take care.