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From Chapter 4: Left, Right and Center
Rachel is the office manager of a small company that consists of people with opposite views, especially when it comes to religion and politics. Rachel tried to steer clear of both and keep conversations on a friendly, yet neutral level. During an election year, she put a sticker on her car for a grassroots organization to which she belonged. Her boss noticed it and heckled her in good fun (we assume). Rachel said she did not want to debate politics with him. Rachel now finds little "political notes" on her planning board in her office and bumper stickers lying around the break room with opposite views. The boss is the owner of the company.
Because we spend so much time with the people we work with, we naturally want them to be as much like us as possible. Differences, when not handled in a healthy, open way, may create anxiety and unease. One unhealthy way to relieve anxiety is to tease or worse, haze, the outsider. Rachel showed her different political philosophy with her bumper sticker. Rather than look at the difference as a profit potential, her boss mildly harassed her to sooth his own discomfort at her different view.
In the following story, a political ideologue went out of control.
A business delegation from Russia was visiting a vegetable packing plant. The manager of the plant was a fervent anti-communist. He spent the entire visit haranguing against Communism and the old Soviet Union. The Russian delegates were polite, but the manager cost the company a $25 million dollar, long term contract.
A healthy political climate in any organization fosters an open marketplace of ideas. Wise companies will see opportunity and profit in political differences. You may or may not like the politics of Fox News Network or the Pacifica Radio network, but recognize that right, left, and center all buy goods and services.