Over at US NEWS today, I write about Ron Paul and what I noticed about his candidacy for President. Don’t worry, it is not so much a political column as you may think, rather how you can turn your employees into company evangelists.
It is surprisingly simple, jump off here.
Oh, and please don’t email me about your candidate.
Update: 8.13.08: It wasn’t as simple or straight-forward as I thought, 70 people have made comments over at US NEWS. Most are negative.
6 users commented in " What You Can Learn From Ron Paul "
BARACK OBAMA OF COURSE!!!!!! WHO ELSE?
Most of the comments were negative? Imagine that. You basically accuse a large and diverse grassroots group of people who care deeply about their country as being manipulated sheep or members of a cult. You imply that their “uncool” spokesperson is really just a clever manipulator who can teach the world of business a thing or two about how to sell a product.
You broadcast your political apathy as a mark of superiority, and claim that activists, such as Ron Paul supporters, are somehow inferior because they are going out of their way to market something that isn’t personally enriching themselves. I mean…who would do something so foolish as to raise money for somebody else or for a cause? Obviously if these people believe in something aside from making money for themselves, they’ve been brainwashed. Obviously, these people have all been manipulated, and the “wizard behind the curtain” deserves a grand round of applause for “turning them into an army of evangelists.” Right?
Can you see how maybe some people might find that offensive?
Steve,
Thank you for making this comment. I now understand how some may have read my earlier post as being offensive. The poor word choice of ‘intellectual’ and ‘cool’ may have offended…and for that, I apologize. My larger point was only trying to make a connection to a different arena. The intellectual comment had nothing to do with the validity of anyone’s beliefs and I was not judging, certainly, Dr. Paul’s. I was trying to say that in a business sometimes the positive energy that surrounds the product line and the employer comes more from an emotional appeal than an intellectual one. As far as the uncool comment, I was being sarcastic. The previous line (But most of us want to retain our “coolness” and won’t even try. There is nothing cool about Ron Paul.) was meant to counter those people, mostly in a business not the political arena, who consider the act of trying or attempting anything to be uncool.
I don’t consider Ron Paul supporters as being in a cult, or sheep, or uncool, or being brainwashed.
But your main question: can I see how some have found my post offensive? The answer is yes. It was not my intention to do so.
I seem to remember being that fervent about political topics—-age seems to dull sharp feelings.
Your point about company evangelism is noted though I wonder if capitalism can survive without it.
I think a lot of people would have missed your “normal tone”. I didn’t find anything wrong with it, but then I was approaching it as a post in line with the general tone of Voices in general, along with your blog.
Perhaps, as you say, you over-simplified it, like saying “Coke is successful because it tastes good and they use Red!”
Keep up the good work
Mike and Data…thanks for commenting. I appreciate you both.
Leave A Reply