By the People, For the People

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

-Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

I have been thinking of these word a lot recently, in many different contexts. In my view the world has been changing in so many great ways, but these words are just as powerful as ever. We have watched many areas of the world where the citizens united through the power of connection to create new lives for themselves and future generations. They said enough is enough.

For years now I have loved social media because in many aspects of our lives it helped to power the ideas of individuals and bring us together to take on parts of the world that have not lived up to our expectations. It has been empowering! Of course there are drawbacks and human failings that come into play. Mainly because as human beings we have different objectives than others, different approaches, and sometimes we are out for ourselves. We often portray ourselves as the person we desire to be, instead of showing who we really are, warts and all. Instead of embracing people with different views, we are often vilifying them instead of trying listen and learn from them. We do not realize the unintentional harm we are sometimes doing to each other. Fast Company has an article "Want to be happier? Stop comparing yourself to what you see in social media." I personally think we all of to be more mindful that this new found power of publishing brings, and the responsibilities that go along with it. It will be difficult because human nature causes us to want to build acceptance of others, and to do this we may not want to show those warts.

In my mind social media has grown old and tired, especially from what I currently see coming from marketers pushing useless messages, instead of businesses recognizing the new power the people have and embracing change to go with that. I see change happening, but much slower than I ever expected. People within companies have been trying to hold onto the power of the past, instead of seeing the power the future may bring. We tend to treat employees more like the industrialist times instead of the new economy in which we live. Often companies treat Customers even worse; but we still like to spew the message of how great the businesses or products are. Change is hard. The unknown is hard.

This changing world has caused me to do a lot of soul searching. What do I want? What makes me tick? I feel I am lucky to have had so many connections and career success, but that is not what always makes us happiest. Personally I am often scared.

What happens when I say the wrong thing? My current role is in social media, but my view is a brand message is created by experiences not what the brand pushes in social media. This is not always a popular view with those in marketing, but I have a different background so my views where created by different life experiences. In my view companies will not win unless they embrace the power of the people, not the power of the message or the power of the product. I do believe businesses are starting to change in this direction, but it is a process that will take time because businesses are made up of many people with different experiences and different ways of thinking. We tend to want to hold onto what we are comfortable with. It is human nature.

I worry about not being able to provide for my family. If I were to change careers will it have a negative impact? What is the next role that is best suited for me? In my quest to find answers I had to keep asking questions, such as what jobs brought me the most satisfaction and why? For me the most satisfaction comes from driving changes that create better Customer and employee experiences. I enjoy serving others. When I first realized this, I was confused. Why would I want to serve others? Why do I enjoy making them happy. Well there are many good and bad things in my history that drove that choice, but it is me.

As I thought about this, I started to think of ways I could best serve. I started to even think about the political process. Government in my view should be about serving the people, as Lincoln made so eloquently clear. The challenge in my mind was I am not certain that is the case. In fact case in point came out in NJ yesterday as the Department of Motor Vehicles established new regulations (based on older legislation) that effectively will make it illegal for Tesla to sell cars in NJ without going through a franchised dealer, which is not the company's model. They sell direct. The legislation was designed to protect franchise owners from having the company they franchise from come in and create a direct sales channel undercutting their business. Intent is meaningless in this situation, because the dealer association decided it wanted to prevent Tesla, which already has 2 NJ sales centers, from being able to establish themselves in the state. My favorite was a quote posted on from NJ Coalition of Automobile Retailers President Jim Appleton trying to show that Tesla's approach hurts Customers. "The independent system of franchisees that operates in New Jersey promotes price competition because a manufacturer doesn't control distribution and prices...it also promotes greater access to warranty claims and safety recall service, which are both something manufacturers hate." As a Customer, I do not think I have ever said these things about the car buying process, or warranty service. In fact I usually find both experiences with dealer appalling. I consider myself like many others. I tend to vote both parties, and find myself in different camps based on the specifics of a topic. The challenge has been that politicians often place donations, then their party before the constituents that they serve. As I have been thinking about this I watched Netflix's House of Cards. I like to think that politics is not like that, but I have a feeling there is some honesty in the show. Maybe politics is not for me, but as a citizen I recognize I can still drive change.

As I continue to struggle with my career choices, and created the life for my family, I think my focus should play to my strengths, especially regarding Customer experience, so I will most likely make that my focus going forward. Truthfully it has always been my love and focus no matter what title was next to my name. It is about respecting the people a business serves. Now I have to take the time to chat with people at work about best position here, as well as network with others to find the best answer for me.

I am just one person, with many faults, but I am surrounded by others who I can continue to learn and develop. The more we learn together, the ability we will have to change the world to be a better place for everyone. The seeds of this change have already been planted for businesses and governments. The key to seeing the seeds thrive is we have to first embrace our individual differences, and recognize our similarities. Together we will make this world a better place! A world by the people and for the people.

Update: As I shared this post, Laura Fitton shared a link to a post written by Frank Chimero that I highly recommend! The post is called "This One's For Me."

Photo: ksb / shutterstock