Monday, September 26, 2022

Whether you’re on or off the clock, you need to always be professional. That’s not as easy as it once was. 

In times gone by, what you did legally when you were off the clock was nobody’s business but your own (except, maybe, your family’s and friends’). There was work and there was home. Employers didn’t often step in to deal with bad conduct, unless it was extreme—usually of the law-breaking variety. Public figures were generally given privacy on family matters unless the conduct was deplorable or too scandalous to ignore. The media, just like the rest of us, had to make a buck then as now. But back then, questionable private conduct rarely made the news.

And then along came the Internet, Google, and social media. Which never forget. At the same time, shifts in social culture began to blur the distinction between private and public conduct. Companies, once content only to make a profit, wanted to be known for being good corporate citizens as well. Ditto for the professions and a multitude of occupations. Pretty soon, private conduct that didn’t meet the expectations of anyone with a finger and a mouse became the subject of conversation in the court of public opinion. Today, our private and public conduct is subject to the Orwellian eye of social media, the mainstream media and public expectations, 24/7.

Maybe we’re in a better place now. I don’t know if we’re all happier. But there’s no question that, as they say in the policing profession, “anything you say can and will be used against you” in a court of justice as well as the court of public opinion. 

"We’ve all seen examples of this. Someone said something stupid and posted it. Or their bad conduct was recorded. Or their private conduct didn’t change with the times and they became outliers, sometimes losing their job and their reputation. Regardless of the example, the process is pretty much the same: public vilification with a side order of reputational damage to the occupation or profession."

If you don’t like this landscape, there’s little point in lamenting. These are the times we live in. Perhaps the pendulum will swing back the other way a little; who knows? But in the meantime, we have to accept that our conduct, both public and private, may be the subject of intense scrutiny and harsh judgment. Sometimes that judgment is upheld when all the facts are in. Sometimes it isn’t. But by that time, the damage to your personal reputation and the profession has been done. And that’s hard to repair.

No one is immune to the fact that they can be out on their ear in a heartbeat if their private conduct doesn’t measure up to expected professional and societal conduct. It takes a lot of effort to restore a reputation, and sometimes that effort isn’t even a realistic prospect. Why risk it by saying or doing something that makes others shake their heads or recoil in disgust?

As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “With freedom comes responsibility.” We’re pretty much free to say what we think, subject to the laws of the land. But that’s a legal standard. The bar for ethical standards, professional conduct and societal expectations is much higher. Saying or doing something that may not be against the law can still result in professional disgrace and public condemnation. And besides, is defending an action by saying, “I didn’t break the law,” the best we can do?

We’re in a profession that has weathered some significant public scrutiny over the years. I think we’re in a better place now than we were in 2016, but just barely. The only way to keep moving that dial in the right direction is to think about what we say and do both privately and professionally before we say or do it. 

Easier said than done but give it a try. I wish you the best.