Leadership Wednesday 09 - Think Before You Tweet

"The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is little hope invested in [Donovan] McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."

Over six years ago, Rush Limbaugh shared those thoughts working as a first-year analyst for ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown. A week after the broadcast, Limbaugh had already resigned from the show, responding to backlash for his racially insensitive comments. This past week those comments have once again come back to haunt Limbaugh. Limbaugh was part of a group bidding to purchase the NFL’s St. Louis Rams. With Limbaugh as the face of the group, NFL players began saying that they wouldn’t sign with the Rams because they wouldn’t want to play for Limbaugh and other owners even said that they wouldn’t approve the sale to a group with Limbaugh as a member. The backlash to Limbaugh’s involvement forced the group to push Limbaugh out so they could continue forward with their bid.

Whether or not this was all a publicity stunt may never be known, but it does highlight an important lesson for leaders: what we say impacts how people view us, in the present and in the future. If we are in leadership, whether that’s in ministry, the corporate world or the social sector, what we say will influence how we impact people. Rush Limbaugh said something six years ago and those words are still casting a shadow on his life today. And with the advent of the Internet and our information age, what we say can potentially be preserved forever.

In light of that reality, as leaders, we need to not only think before we speak, but we need to think before we write, blog, tweet and post on someone’s wall. Even if we’re not speaking directly to someone, the words and thoughts we share through various channels can have an impact. In order to control that impact and have the kind of influence we desire, we need to be mindful of everything we say and communicate. That need is very clear when it comes to something like a blog, where I am openly sharing my thoughts with the world. But it’s less clear when it comes to Facebook or Twitter, where what seems like a harmless joke between friends gets committed to the public discourse and we’re left explaining ourselves to someone who doesn’t get the joke.

The wired world has opened us up to all new means of sharing our thoughts and ideas. And, as leaders, we should not only be sharing our ideas but benefitting from the wealth of knowledge and information out there. As we share thoughts and ideas, though, we need to be wary of exactly what we’re sharing and whether or not it could have some unforeseen impact, now or in the future. This reality forces us to be more thoughtful about what we share and the impact we’re really looking to make. If every leader puts more thought into what he or she has to say, though, we’ll all benefit from thoughts and ideas that have been better scrutinized and more refined to make a greater impact.

How do you filter the thoughts you share on the Internet?