Excuse My French!

A speaker I know and follow posted on LinkedIn a few weeks ago. His post had far more energy and passion than usual, he even used a PG-rated expletive. I could feel his intensity on this topic; it sounded just like him when he's a little fired up. Unlike most LinkedIn posts, this one was interesting.

And with tens of thousands of followers, he got plenty of likes and comments and just one complaint. His use of the PG-rated expletive was off-putting for one particular guy who has a zero-tolerance policy for curse words. In the comments section of LinkedIn, this person wanted to educate him on why it's unprofessional to use an expletive. My buddy immediately replied you're right, made an apology and committed to doing better next time. It bordered on groveling. Ugg.

It got me thinking and ultimately discussing this topic with others. Is it unprofessional to use a curse word? Is it ever acceptable? Of course, my answer to this last question is Hell, Yes!

I'm sharing this story because I think it's essential that people not censor themselves in their work. I often encourage clients to start a newsletter, start blogging, or post about their work on social media. People want to hear from you, I say. But we can't write from our heart (or create products or offerings) if we're concerned that we might offend someone at every step along the way. Of course, you should know your audience, and I'd never advocate going out of your way to offend, but ultimately it's likely that any point of view on just about anything is bound to have someone disagree.

A journaling question for you is: If I weren't censoring myself, how would I show up more fully in my work?