LinkedIn: Useful business network or platform for political agitation?

Our owner and CEO writes about what she appreciates in LinkedIn posts by CEOs, what she would like to see, and her stance on political posts:

• Openness and honesty on business topics, posts with a healthy balance of news, thought leadership, and promotion, less complaining and doom-mongering, more optimism, a variety of small everyday success and failure stories that provide food for thought and motivation. 
• Ideological political agitation with hate speech that violates human dignity has no place on this platform. We need more courageous statements from CEOs to save our democracy. Bridgebuilders are needed, as well as an open, broad-based, but always respectful democratic discourse, because the economy needs democracy, and democracy needs a thriving economy and business acumen to create sustainable solutions.

CEOs as brand ambassadors on LinkedIn

At our Worldwide Partners Meeting in the fall, a LinkedIn manager recommended that CEOs and entrepreneurs become active brand ambassadors for their companies, as they can achieve reach much faster than others. Our communications consultants also advise our clients' CEOs to post thought leadership content to strengthen brand awareness and trust in their companies. I finally decided to follow this advice.

» The economy needs democracy

But then I was overwhelmed by the trend toward political topics, away from branding and business. People fought hard for our democratic values. That's a good thing, because only in a democracy can we maintain our economic strength and prosperity. I admire all corporate leaders who have the courage to take a stand despite hostility from right-wing or left-wing extremists.  

But now I'm seeing more and more ideologically charged posts, unfortunately also from supporters of centrist parties, who disrespectfully attack opinion leaders, business leaders, and politicians of all stripes below the belt. My first reaction was to leave LinkedIn, my second was to take the plunge and finally start posting actively.

» Political agitation – no, democratic economic debates – yes.

There should be no place on a business network for hate speech, attacks on individuals, and partisan, ideological anti-business slogans, and certainly none for political agitation from a clearly anti-democratic side.

I realize that this is and will unfortunately remain a pipe dream. But maybe it helps to just ignore such posts and instead like, comment on, and share

• those that foster a democratic culture of debate,
• build bridges between business, society, and politics,
• take a courageous stance,
• discuss different views fairly and with mutual respect,
• seek common ground
• and strive for practical solutions.

Like #ChristinaBeisenberg, who writes: “Controversial discussions are not a sign of weakness, but the engine of a vibrant democracy and progress,” as long as they are conducted with dignity and do not forget the human being behind the other side (#Cyrill Luchsinger).

Provided that the algorithm presents us with different opinions, an open and respectful exchange can lead to viable solutions for the future.

»  Thought leadership posts with a clear stance

This applies not only to social and economic policy issues, but also to discussions about business challenges, which I would like to see much more of.

Thought leadership with a stance combined with a constructive culture of discourse can be enormously enriching. Narratives with diverse perspectives and controversial discussions can inspire innovation and transformation. Posts with stories of successful and diverse approaches can motivate and be a source of hope for the future. Comments can point to new paths or even inspire disruption, and all of this, combined with more optimism, can have a turbo effect on economic recovery.

However, as with economic policy discourse, it all comes down to the “how.” Appreciative, authentic, open, and honest—these have been the highly touted imperatives in the marketing world for some time now. But putting them into practice is proving difficult. We are all competing for attention, and ultimately, CEO posts are also about selling services/products. We have been taught that only winners win. No wonder that posts proudly proclaiming absolute success predominate. But I immediately switch off when I see such posts: they lack credibility. Trust cannot be built that way. Similarly, I can no longer listen to the thousandfold repetition of complaints about “Trump, Putin, geopolitics, and economic policy,” especially when they serve to shift responsibility away from oneself.

On the other hand, I enjoy reading small, everyday stories that describe a variety of possible solutions, including detours and failures, and where success is not attributed solely to the individual, but where everyone involved is appreciated. I particularly value stories where lessons learned are shared and revealed to the competition. In a crisis-ridden world, it makes a lot of sense to jump over the competitive shadow and think more about collaboration and joint solutions. “Together we are stronger” sounds like a Bible verse (which it is), or a trade union or political party slogan. But why shouldn't that also apply to companies?