How to test the credibility of the experts you highlight
A few weeks ago, I was looking at a piece of content from someone I follow and they had a quote from Mother Teresa in their content. In the context, it fit well, made sense, and helped enhance the overall impact. These are all reasons we include quotes from prominent people who are highly regarded.
However, it gave me pause to see her quoted in a publication like this.
I immediately assumed the person or group (I don't remember who or what it was) must not know about the valid criticisms of Mother Teresa. After all, I’ve only become aware of them in the past few years.
However, others who also saw the unfortunate post may not have given the creator the benefit of the doubt. They might assume that those responsible for the post were aware of the controversies surrounding Mother Teresa and decided to quote her anyways, leading them to form parallels between Mother Teresa, the business, and their values as a company.
Others still, might not be aware of Mother Teresa’s questionable history, and therefore may not have seen anything wrong with the piece of content, scrolling past it and consuming it like any other post without question.
The variety of ways this piece of content may have been received got me thinking about the ways we need to be more intentional in how we demonstrate our values in our content.
Recently, I shared my intentions to be more diverse in the sources of information and inspiration I am utilizing and referencing in my business. But I want to go even further than that and ensure the people I look to are aligned with my own values – to the degree that I can.
The humanity in us means we're all flawed, so perfection isn't the goal—not in the people we choose to highlight, nor in trying to avoid ever highlighting someone with a problematic history of some sort.
It’s about being intentional with who you choose based on the priority you set on it and the values you want to uphold.
Full disclosure: this wasn’t even on my radar until I shifted into full-time business operations three years ago.
But as business owners we should be mindful of our values when referencing quotes, resharing content, and aligning ourselves with other people or businesses.
While I don’t believe there's any need to “cancel” anyone for the type of content they share, there is a need for more education, awareness, and intentionality.
Impact is greater than intentions
Bringing up the harm some people have done can be perceived as trying to "cancel" them or erase their positive contributions.
That’s not the goal.
But ignorance is also not supportive.
Instead, it’s important to acknowledge that people are complex and can build complicated legacies.
If a good reputation is diminished by recognizing facts of harm the person caused, it's more accurate than it would be to ignore the harm.
The idea that impact is greater than intentions can be hard to process or even accept. After all, good intentions matter, don't they? Shouldn't we give credit for what people are trying to do?
Think about those awkward and unfortunate situations where you go to physically help someone and end up cracking heads with them or smacking them because of poor timing.
The impact was pain while the intention was pure. The pain doesn't magically disappear because the intent was good.
You can’t simply ignore the consequences of your actions, because your intentions were good. There needs to be a sense of accountability, learning, and reassessment.
It can be simultaneously true that someone has good intentions and the approach they take causes harm.
People who have the best of intentions and an openness to feedback will acknowledge the ways they've misstepped and try to address it.
Further, they will realign their actions so they can move forward with an impact closer to their original intention.
How to vet your sources against your brand values
As a small business owner, your brand and reputation are tied to what you do, what you say, and who you align yourself with.
We've been seeing this more and more since 2020, when the global pandemic made consumers sit up and take notice of the actions businesses took in response to lockdowns.
So, while it may add an extra step to your content creation process, making time to research those whose quotes you’re sharing, the creators you’re referencing, or the businesses you’re promoting, is essential for building long-term consumer trust and loyalty.
Here’s how I recommend checking your sources against your brand values:
Do a search for "criticism of ______<insert name>_______." And don’t just look at the first result in the search engine! This is about the longevity of your business and will ensure you’re connecting with your ideal clients, so be diligent in your research.
Reflect on the source's overall work and whether it aligns to your views and values (someone will, I promise). This might require some dismantling and unlearning based on the fact that unfortunately society and history uphold a lot of problematic people.
When you do find something problematic, look elsewhere. What credible sources can you turn to instead? There is always another option. It just might take some digging.
Keep a running list of sources you trust. This will make the content creation process easier down the road.
Be selective about who you trust so they're truly relevant for you and your people. They don’t need to be famous or recognizable either. Let’s uplift folks who have good things to say regardless!
People are watching and they remember odd things sometimes. Like my memory of the choice to quote Mother Teresa in a piece of content—it’s the only takeaway I got from it, which I know wasn’t the intention.
Though most of the time random quotes and mentions of an author or creator won't have an impact on your brand or reputation, doing a little extra work to vet the people you highlight in your content is a good way to reinforce what you stand for, even if it's mostly for an audience of one – you.
It’s almost inevitable that consumers will draw parallels between you, your business, and the content you’re sharing. Whether those associations are positive or negative is largely up to you.
Don’t risk losing the trust of your audience because of something that could be avoided with some upfront time and energy on your end.
Get clear on your values, and do the (non-performative) work to ensure you’re upholding them.
When you’re authentic and intentional in this process, you’re setting yourself up for sustainable business growth.