And the realization is hitting me stronger than ever, how grateful I am to be surrounded by the love of a diverse team of talented and caring people.
It hits me stronger than ever when I can’t turn my head without reading, seeing, or hearing voices of concern for heroes and sufferers who blazed trails that allow for our own privileges. I don’t speak for my team, but I do take full responsibility for their work. I also value them for every opinion they have. I try to listen as often as possible. I try to guide whenever needed. But I’m open to their opinions because it’s foundational of the work they create.
At Culture Pilot, our role in this social ecosystem is to influence human behavior. That’s marketing in a nutshell. Let’s put a strong focus on the word INFLUENCE because it’s an important distinction. We are not on this earth to tell people what to do. I look at our company’s role in society much in the same light as having good moral values. For those of us lucky enough to have had great parents or influential mentors, we ourselves act in the same way, offering guidance and direction. All in an effort to make good choices.
Our role is also to encourage risk because risk is necessary for innovation. But there is a difference between well-informed risk and risk for the sake of pressing your luck. Good choices can be made by luck and oftentimes that’s how the story goes. But we exist to improve the odds. Our goal is to provide solid reasoning based on real data to the companies we work with, so they can make a decision likely to have long term effects on their business.
In life, some may choose the path of ignorance. And unfortunately, ignoring well-informed data can lead to unpredictable effects, one of which is division. We’re not here to promote division, in fact, we’re here to inhibit division as much as possible. In marketing, competition promotes growth, but division promotes negativity and negativity is the last thing we want associated with any brand.
So at a time when society is finally waking up to LGBTQ equality, and why black lives matter, and why women deserve equal pay, all I can hope for is that we take the time to listen and to open our minds to the opinions of others, regardless of who they are or where they’ve come from.
The moment we stop listening and having an open mind to the opinions of others is the moment we have already failed — as parents, as mentors, as managers, as business owners, as friends, and as strangers too.
It’s up to all of us to be well-informed and to make good decisions. Now is not a time for division.
Thank you to my team, and to everyone who we work with now and have worked with over the years. Your opinions, your open minds, and your diversity are what make us stronger. Thank you for uniting us all.
-Tim
