Those of us in this particular service industry have, for years, been looked upon unfavorably and have even been called some ugly and not so encouraging names, such as: ambulance chasers, spin Dr’s, flacks, and plain ‘ole liars. Not nice, but in many cases, very true. After many years in this industry, I have personally witnessed the moral and ethical meltdowns of many of my peers after temptation has gotten the best of them. The temptation to succeed, continue to grow, compete in the market place, make more money, remain positively visible, you name it.
Temptation got the best of them and the best of them stumbled, only never to get back up again.
Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to be perfect to beat temptation as well, it is not wrong to desire a successful business, but you MUST have a moral and ethical compass by which your standards of doing business and success are set. What are yours?
This business of PR, Marketing and Branding should never be given the power to dictate who you will or will not become morally. The lure of obtaining the best coverage for a client has ensnared those who have left themselves wide open and vulnerable to the trappings of the media world. There are media folk who will do anything for a story, which in turn can sometimes feel like a justification for you to do the same; at an extremely high cost.
If you’re in a corporate environment, your employer is the one who calls the shots about how far they want you to go for exposure; that’s quite intimidating. You either do as they say or jeopardize your job. On the other hand, if you're the owner, no one can compromise your ethical code of conduct unless you allow them too. If you’re ever put in that type of position, quite honestly, that should be a deal breaker for you. Never be afraid to stand up for the morals and ethics you have set for yourself and your company otherwise, you may need to redefine who really owns the business.
This Part #1 of a 2-part Blog. Part #2 - Setting the PR Moral and Ethics Standard
2 comments:
This is wonderful ladies! Yes.....I can relate to the ethical and moral dilemna's sometimes faced when doing this work. Having spent a great deal of time in education (teenagers specifically), I can tell you that the moral compass is almost non-existent. So we must become a part of campaigns that touch and educate young people to assist in this process of making sure that ethics are part of the business equation.
I agree! Our moral and ethical standards should never be excluded from our business equation. Any project that would be in opposition to our moralistic ideology shouldn’t even be considered. We must ALWAYS uphold our integrity.
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