Late Wednesday night, I stumbled over to my phone, which had been buzzing off the hook all night. Instead of the typical emojis from my friends, I saw countless breaking news alerts. A barrage of missiles had hit the war-torn country of Syria, all property of the United States.
While not a declaration of war, President Trump had given the approval to violate a country’s sovereignty located in the powder keg we know as the middle east. In the hours that followed, the White House and its allies repeated the message that this breach was in response to the devastating chemical attack that occurred a few days prior.
However, despite the Trump administration’s effort, their story never stood a chance. Instead, the 24-hour news stations picked up tweets, interviews, and TV clips in which Donald Trump aggressively insists that the US has no business intervening in the situation in Syria.
The tweet in question appeared in 2013 among a group of Trump-style tweet barrages. As the situation in Syria began to gain coverage, so did the tweet.
So why is this important to professionals like you and me? Throughout my life, I have had the honor of serving as an educator for teenagers all over the country. A subject that we also address is social media. We as educators repeat over and over again that once something is online, it remains there forever.
As professionals, social media becomes even more contentious. Despite many professional advocates’ efforts, nothing is stopping an employer from looking at what you post, what you comment on, even whom you follow online. What is worse? Some companies have chosen to use this as a pre-screening opportunity for potential hires.
So now here we are. The President of the United States is being chastised because of a tweet he sent three years ago. But can your professional identity change, like your opinion over time? How can we hold others accountable for what they said 3, 5, or 10 years ago? Here is the big lesson!
The truth is not if we changed but how we did it! As professionals, we each need to tell our own story, show how we grow and develop. When we get “called out” for our online presence, our first reaction is to deny, deflect, and jump to anger. It is our professional fight or flight instinct kicking in.
As professionals, everyone from entry-level to C-suite needs to learn how to tell our story instead of ignoring it. When an employer or the public condemns what you did, show them instead what you are doing! Show them how you have developed, how you have learned.
Of course, there is always the other option, censor yourself. But I believe that part of being successful is about being authentic. Yes, your words or ideas may not be at the center of a war, as a president’s but being authentic means living without boundaries.
If you can live without boundaries, accept your mistakes, and show how you have grown from them, then your success will be just as authentic. Your online identity is permanent, but the story it tells is constantly changing!
As for the president, only time will tell if public opinion will accept his story or if he can tell his own authentic professional story. For us, we can continue to watch as the news proves our teachers, parents, and mentors correct; words can never be taken back.
Solomon Communication 