Showing posts with label Social Media Etiquette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media Etiquette. Show all posts

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Does it Pay to Be Honest ?


While Randy Gage has been on Vacation he has had some Amazing Speaker Guests do his Daily Wisdom Blog Posts.

About a week ago Joachim DePosada and International Speaker and the Author of "Don't Eat the Marshmallow"  a book I highly recommend wrote a blog on "Does it Pay to be Honest"


One of his points was that "more often than not, dishonesty is provoked by fear or danger."

Below is Webster's dicitionary Definition of Honesty - Noun
http://www.webster-dictionary.net/definition/honesty
Hon´es`ty
n.
1.
- Shak.

2
That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
- 1 Tim. ii. 2.

So the question is - DO YOU BELIEVE IT PAY'S TO BE HONEST ?
And does Fear and or Danger play a Role in the decision making to be  dishonest ?

I do Agree with Joachim DePosada that a lot of people Lie out of Fear and Or Danger...  There are quite a few degrees of difference between Fear and Danger -
Are You in Fear of ?
A- Hurting somebody's feelings ?
B- Losing a Friend, Job, Spouse etc... ?
C- Being Physically Hurt ?

Obviously, A & B are very Different than C however, if one's Emotions are running high - to some A & B could feel like C.  They could feel like they are being personally attacked.

Regardless, of whether it is A, B or C - I,  personally believe "HONESTY"
is Key in all communications, and that in the end, it is for the greater good.

And... YES... I am NOT perfect and I am sure when I was a Child I said my share of Lie's and even as an adult I know I have in the past told some lies for the same reasons listed in A, B and C.

And... I am speaking from personal experience as I have personally been in the situations of A, B & C... Yes even "C" and when I was in "C" it wasn't until I was willing to be COMPLETELY "HONEST" that I was actually SAVED... And... the Cost was Extremely High... I Lost everything in the process - Friends, Family, House etc... Long Story, I did write a blog about it, however let's not get sidetracked, and get back to this Blog post. 

Was it worth it ?  Absolutely 100% Yes... I got my life back literally...

Today, however I have to say... I truly do attempt to be HONEST regardless of the cost and here are some of the tools I use to that, and I will also share a Story that just recently happened. 

Tool One: 
*Speak from a Compassionate Passionate Place.
*Be Clear on Your Intention before engaging in the discussion.
*What is the Purpose of this conversation.
*Are you Attempting to PROVE Your Point ?
*Or Are You wanting to Improve a situation that will help empower 
both parties ?

Tool Two: 
*Look at the person's body language.
*Are they going to be OPEN to  hearing what you have to say.  
*Tap into Your Multi-Sensory Awareness.
*Do they have their Arms crossed in front of their chest ?
*Are they raising their voice ?
*Are they automatically responding with a defense tone ?
*Are they getting emotional - Crying ? 



Here is an Article I did on



Personally, I also ask someone if they are "OPEN" to Feedback and Immediately let them now that I TOO... am OPEN to all feedback... And I also never use the word "BUT" when I am sharing feedback as the word "BUT" tends to create more triggers...

Example: See if you can feel and or hear the difference in this sentence....
"I Love You, But..." 
"I Love You, And..."

When we say the Word "BUT" the unconscious inner child comes up with waiting for the other shoe to drop if you will... We are waiting for the Criticism or we are thinking OH NO... here comes the... and then what happens is the person's ARMOR goes up and they are MORE on the defensive and ARE NOT going to hear what you are saying...

Versus when we use the Word "AND"... it is a much Softer word and ALLOWS
for more communication to happen...  

Tool Three: 
"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz

The Biggest challenges in Speaking Honestly is NOT allowing yourself to go to two places:
1- Assuming
2- Taking things Personally

Ask Questions instead of assuming and... Realize that we are all UNIQUE beings with UNIQUE perspectives on Life... and what might mean one thing to us might mean something COMPLETELY different to somebody else...

I wrote a Blog Post about  Is it Criticism or Feedback ?



Tool Four:
Always Attempt to do important Feedback in Person.
I always ATTEMPT to do feedback in PERSON or if I have to, the next best choice is via Phone...
Text, Emails etc... are literally like opening Pandoras box if you will...
Text and Or Emails and even the phone sometimes does not fully portray and or convey Full Intentions or Emotions.

Tool Five: 
In all relationships... Say THANK YOU, and Give Praise, Inspiration, and Empowerment as Often as possible.


So, here is an example of a Recent Actual Facebook situation where I held true to being Honest and Authentic:
An old friend who I had a Falling out with decided to Block me on Facebook,
and when I was asked by various Mutual Friends I told them the TRUTH about why I had "Unfriended him" and then eventually I had to "Block" the person.
That  person went onto to spreading some "UNTRUTHS" and even posted a
"RANT" on their wall.  As a result, some of our "MUTUAL" Friends unfriended ME and even "BLOCKED" Me... 

So, I attempted to reach out via Phone with not much success and then eventually emailed a few people and asked "Why" and that is when I found out about the person's untruthful rant.  I then proceeded to tell them my Truth and my side, however; since they had been friends with this person longer, they still choose to side with the other person... UNTIL...that person's TRUE Colors started to show... AND... I got an Email which then led to a Phone call saying... "I and the others are Soooo Sorry we didn't believe You... We have since found out You were telling the truth... Please forgive Us, we feel so bad... You have never done anything to hurt us and You are such an amazing person..." I was also asked to please add them as friends again. 

I said no problem and that I understood, and that I was glad they finally saw the person's true colors and added them back as friends per their request.

I also wrote a blog post on Social Media Etiquette, as a lot of problems can arise if you don't follow a few simple rules.

Another Midnight Production
Enjoy the Journey
2012©Carly Alyssa Thorne


Saturday, December 1, 2012

On Line Reputation Management, When to Stand up for self and others...

By the way everything I am going to address below applies to any given Relationship: Social Media, Family, Friends and Business...
Personally I attempt to treat everyone with the same values, caring, integrity etc... and those are the types of people that I choose to have in my own circles as well...

So, Someone posted the above Quote pic on Facebook and it really hit home for me for many reasons Personally and in Business as this is part of what I do and teach for a living. So let me explain why and how...  I also want to pre-frame this with - this is just my personal opinion and from my own personal experiences with working on and with clients and cases involving on line reputation management and my own life personal experience and journey of Learning, Playing and Growing each and every day in various Countries with vast Values, Theologies, Abundance and or resources.

And... The BIG Pre-Frame for this Entire POST after some of the comments I received - I am NOT talking about gossiping and silly warnings, I am talking about BIG issues, not small petty things, that is Just hearsay and gossip. 

I shared the above Quote pic on my Facebook wall with the following statement:

"Sooo True... and the other side to that is when and if you warn Your Friends about something or someone they also don't need facts yet believe You, based on your Solid friendship.

A peeve of mine is:
A have seen a Huge lack these days of People willing to stand up for others when they see something or know someone is a fake and or has hurt other people...  
My friends know I have their back 100%  

I have seen way too many people take and twist the term:
"Who are we to Judge"  Karma, Dharma etc...  

Their is a point of no return with certain acts in my personal opinion.  Just saying nasty things about someone is ONE thing... However... if You know somebody has hurt some of your friends and then has gone to do it again and again to other friends at what point do you let Karma, Dharma, or whatever Philosophy you believe take over or have the Authenticity and Integrity to warn your friends...  

What they do with the information you give them is UP to them... What they Choose to do is up to them...  However... I would Hope my Friends would be willing to stand up for me and say hey... "that person you are dealing with, know this is just my personal opinion however just be careful etc..."  

I am never ashamed of mistakes or sweep them under the carpet, I use them to empower others, so If I have ever dealt with a shady character or deal unknowingly and then things go south etc... and then I see others getting burned in the same manner, I don't hide, feel embarrassed, I warn people- privately... not in big open forums that is not integrity, that is ranting and petty.

I think part of growing up and into awareness is being mindful of those you Love and care about too...  You don't tell them what to do, you just provide your experience. 
Enjoy the Journey... We are all teachers for one another, remember that..."

So here is a few of the replies I got:
***Carley, everyone has their own experience with everyone else - sometimes - well most all times - it's important to experience our own experience from our perspective... and then, learn our own lesson - it's great to know you are their 
for your friendz - namaste.

***Hi Carly, this slippery slope began quite a while ago. We have become in the macrocosm a nation where situation-al ethics are the rule...where empathy is relegated to weakness; the social consious is mired in the survival of the fittest or maybe said the survival of the privilege class.

***Now that's having a "simply irresistible" reputation!

*** Carly Alyssa Thorne Your soul is absolutely in the perfect place. I agree that no one should be blindsided, if you have the knowledge to warn them do it. It is up to each person what action they chose to take. If only everyone would look out for each other....


So, I replied with this Comment to address some of the comments above:
"While I can agree with both of Your Statements...  I am all about Self-Learning however... Would a Parent let a child run into the street to learn a lesson... I will be writing a Whole Blog piece on this... It is a very interesting subject.. I think having studied both Eastern and Western Ways, and being of the Metaphysical mindset and Energetics etc... I still believe at some point we  need to Learn a BOTH AND... Mentality and find the balance of when to Step up for others and when to let others find their own way... and I am not saying TELL people what to do, what I am saying is personally ALL FEEDBACK I welcome.... and to  me warning someone is FEEDBACK they can do whatever they want with it..."

I would like to further add to all of the above the following:
When I work with Clients and even in my personal life with friends etc... 
I will ask them...  Are You Open to Feedback ?  
And I let them know I am always open to feedback as well.


I am all about Compassionate Passionate Communications and even teach a course on that.  
What does Compassionate Passionate Communications  mean ?
-Be open and willing to take and give Compassionate Passionate Feedback.
-How I choose to be open and or closed and or react to any given feedback
is my responsibility.
-Honesty, being willing to Delegate, embrace Let's Do it, meaning a mentality of Collaboration and Teamwork, or Delete it, Letting it Go...
-Honesty in communication of I am not okay with that and here is the reason why.... However I am open to this...
-Be willing and open to hear and listen to all points of view, and it is okay to disagree...  it is how we handle different points of view that matters.


I also find Conscious Business Collaboration Principles equally as important.
Within this Compassionate Passionate Communications is vital.
Conscious Business Collaboration - What does it mean ?
-Collaboration Leadership: Leadership that takes feedback from their
their Team, Group, and Leads letting their team know that they are always open and willing to hear suggestions and or feedback, and that all points of view will be heard and or considered.
-Authenticity, Integrity, Value
-Teamwork, JV, Collaboration, Co-Creating
-Let's Do it, Delegate it, or Delete it

So here is where I am going with all of this:
1- Why would I want to deal with Family, Friends, and or business associates who:
A- Who treat me great yet others badly.
B- Aren't willing to own up to their mistakes and or failures.
C- Aren't willing to step up and warn me or advise me that Hm... Just a note we
have dealt with that individual and or Company and here are some of the things
you might want to watch for, while of course pre-framing it that it is just their personal opinion.  I can listen to their advice and heed it or not.  
D- We are all teachers for each other.
E-  There is a Phrase that a friend of mine uses all of the time:
Why reinvent the wheel. Personally, I Love to learn from others successes and or failures-if it can help me NOT to have to REPEAT the same mistake...

F- In today's society with the internet, there are a lot of Fake profiles, people and businesses, and a ton of money scams, so If I personally know of that, and or have experienced it and then I see people that I care about Why wouldn't I just say something.

The concept of letting people learn on their own does have merit... to a degree.
Society as a whole, with the VAST theologies, dogma's, philosophies, tend to Separate people, Black/White mentality, it has to be this way or that way, this is right, this is wrong etc...   For me life is all about Both and...

-I absolutely believe doing, learning thru action is Vital to ones grow...
However... I also think equally vital is paying attention to Feedback, and watching and learning thru others trials and errors.   

-I never said place judgement, warning is NOT judging it is what it is... it is just simply stating an Opinion that might just help someone avoid a costly mistake emotionally, physically, spiritually and or financially.

Now there is some protocols and or etiquette to this, at least I feel there is.
- I would never out someone in Public, meaning on a website, on a FB wall etc...
- I would ask to have a private phone call or meeting with the person if that was possible.
-I would contact my associates and or friends privately and or personally if the person I attempted to have the meeting with wasn't willing to clean up the situation and I saw the situation spiraling out of control.

I also wrote a Blog piece called: "Social Media Who - Why - When - What - How Etiquette"






I would LOVE to hear others opinions, feedback on the subject matter of
When to Warn, Stand up for others, Learn thru Self made mistakes, Learn thru 
others trial and tribulations etc... etc... etc...

Meanwhile...  Enjoy the Journey