Alexei Orlov believes the power of fair speech and balanced opinion is more crucial now than ever. It is important to use our imaginations better to create a new and more certain reality – that humans and kindness should always go together.

1. A P L A C E F O R
L G B T Q I N T H E
W O R K P L A C E
R E I M A G I N I N G R E A L I T Y :
B Y A L E X E I O R L O V

2. T H E P O W E R O F
F A I R S P E E C H ( N O T
F R E E A N D
T H O U G H T L E S S ) A N D
B A L A N C E D O P I N I O N
I S M O R E C R U C I A L
N O W T H A N E V E R .
I T I S I M P O R T A N T
T O U S E O U R
I M A G I N A T I O N S
B E T T E R T O C R E A T E
A N E W A N D M O R E
C E R T A I N R E A L I T Y –
T H A T H U M A N S A N D
K I N D N E S S S H O U L D
A L W A Y S G O
T O G E T H E R .

3. At a recent Pride event in London, there
was one banner that struck me most of
all: “Love Does Go the Distance,” it
proclaimed. Even in the dry
commerciality of business, I am certain
this is true – especially when it comes to
LGBTQ acceptance in the workplace.

4. OVER THE PAST TWENTY YEARS,
AND EVEN MORE IT WOULD SEEM
OVER THE LAST FEW, THE
CLARION CALL FOR THE RIGHTS
OF PEOPLE TO BE TREATED
EQUALLY (NO MATTER THEIR
SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR SELF-
IDENTIFICATION) HAS BECOME A
KEY TOPIC. THIS IS TRUE NOT
JUST FOR ‘GUARDIANS OF LAW
AND ORDER’ AND INTREPID
ORGANIZATIONS DEDICATED
TOWARDS ADVANCING SOCIAL
AND HUMAN RIGHTS, BUT FOR
BRANDS AND BUSINESSES TOO.

5. BUSINESSES HAVE GATHERED
PACE OVER THE PAST HALF
DOZEN YEARS OR SO IN AN
EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND,
ADOPT, AND APPLY THESE
PRINCIPLES OF EQUALITY.
UNFORTUNATELY, MY
EXPERIENCE WITH MANY
BRANDS TELLS ME THAT OFTEN
THE BASIC CULTURE WITHIN
THESE VERY BUSINESSES –
WHICH OUTWARDLY PROFESS
EMPATHY – IS NO MORE THAN
SOCIAL DRESSING.

6. I remember an instance about 10 years
ago when a leading brand seeking my
advice rebutted my recommendations.
As one leading executive put it, ‘going
pink’ – or incorporating LGBTQ issues into
the market economy – would distract
many of their clients and consequently
harm their brand and the business.

7. OF COURSE THEY DECLINED TO
GET ‘INVOLVED’ IN ANY SORT OF
ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF LGBTQ
PEOPLE. YEARS LATER, I SEE
THEM TRYING TO ADDRESS
DIRECTLY WHAT THEY ONCE
CALLED ‘THAT OTHER
COMMUNITY.’ I WAS HORRIFIED
TO HEAR THESE WORDS SPOKEN
BY A MAN WHO IS VERY
CULTURED AND EDUCATED – YET
THERE HE STOOD, FEARFUL OF
EMBRACING BASIC RIGHTS. THIS
ATTITUDE IS EXCEPTIONALLY
DANGEROUS FOR VARIOUS
GROUPS OF PEOPLE, AND WILL
ONLY SERVE TO HARM THE
BUSINESS WORLD BY PROXY.

8. No amount of dressing will help if you
are intolerant at your core.

9. EQUALITY IS ONLY POSSIBLE IF
YOU PRIORITIZE FAIR
TREATMENT AND MERIT, AS IS
INHERENT TO A STRONG
FOUNDATION OF CULTURAL
INCLUSION. IT IS THEREFORE UP
TO BUSINESS LEADERS TO
ENSURE THAT ACCEPTANCE OF
LGBTQ PEOPLE IS INTRINSIC TO
THEIR DNA, NOT A SHODDY
ADDITION.

10. I THINK WE ALL MAKE OUR OWN
VERSIONS OF NORMAL, AND
THOSE IN BUSINESS MUST
ESTABLISH THEIRS FIRMLY: YOU
EITHER TRULY EMPATHIZE
THROUGH A CULTURE THAT
PROMOTES LISTENING,
LEARNING, AND EVOLVING –
INEXTRICABLY LINKED DAY BY
FLUID DAY TO THE WAY OF
WORKING AND YOUR WAY OF
LIFE – OR YOU HAVE HYPOCRISY
LIGHTLY POLISHED WITH SUGAR-
COATED CONDESCENSION. THIS
LATTER “NORMAL” IS PERIODIC
NOISE – A LITTLE BIT OF TINSEL
PRETENDING TO BE ‘OF THE
MOMENT’ WHEN INDEED IT IS
NOTHING MORE THAN
FALSEHOOD.

11. THERE IS NO SIN TO MY MIND IF,
BY WAY OF EXAMPLE, A
HETEROSEXUAL MIGHT BE
UNFAMILIAR OR EVEN
UNCOMFORTABLE WITH WHAT THE
NUANCES OF HOMOSEXUALITY.
THAT IS THEIR LIFE CHOICE, AND
THEY DON’T NEED TO BE
DENIGRATED FOR THIS. THEY TOO
HAVE A RIGHT TO WHATEVER
‘VALUES’ THEY BELIEVE IN, SO
LONG AS IT DOES NO HARM (AND
THIS IS KEY). WITH SO MUCH
OPPORTUNITY TO DISCOVER AND
LEARN, ROOM FOR
INDISCRIMINATE JUDGMENT,
MALICE, AND UNKINDNESS IS
RAPIDLY SHRINKING. HISTORY
WILL CAST NO GLOW UPON
INTOLERANCE AND FALSEHOOD.

12. Thoughtfulness, kindness and yes, love does
go the distance. And this goes for everyone.

13. A DEAR FRIEND OF MINE
RECENTLY GAVE ME SAPIENS, A
WONDERFUL BOOK BY YUVAL
NOAH HARARI. EVERY NOW AND
THEN, SOMEONE – OR IN THIS
CASE, A BOOK – COMES ALONG
THAT NOT ONLY STOPS ME IN MY
TRACKS BUT URGES ME TO
RETHINK WHAT I KNOW AND
BELIEVE IN. I CALL IT A MOMENT
WHERE ‘MY BALANCE NEEDS TO
BE RE-BALANCED.’ THIS BOOK
HAS MADE ME REALLY PONDER
UPON MANY ASPECTS OF MY
BELIEFS AND WAYS OF THINKING
– AND WHILST I DECLINE (FOR
NOW) TO UNCOUPLE SOME OF
MY INNER BELIEFS, I AM LEFT
REFLECTING MORE AND MORE
ON ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT OF
HIS BOOK WHICH HE CALLS ‘THE
OBJECTIVE REALITY.’

14. THE FUNDAMENTAL POINT BEHIND
THIS PREMISE IS THAT MUCH OF
WHAT WE FOLLOW AND BELIEVE
IS ACTUALLY NOT BASED ON
SOMETHING THAT WAS GROWN
FROM THE SOIL OR CREATED
BEFORE MAN GAINED THE POWER
TO RE-IMAGINE AND DEVISE.
INDEED, OUR VERY NATIONHOOD
– COUNTRIES, ANTHEMS, FLAGS,
EMBLEMS, POLICIES, FOLKLORE,
AND LAWS THEMSELVES – HAVE
BEEN CREATED BY US. OUR VERY
NORMS AND STRUCTURES ARE
DERIVED FROM OUR
IMAGINATIONS. AS ACADEMICS
PUT IT, THEY ARE “FICTIONS,
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS, IMAGINED
REALITIES.”

15. AT A DINNER PARTY THE OTHER
NIGHT, I HEARD THAT TO CUT
ONE’S LETTUCE LEAF, AS
OPPOSED TO FOLDING IT BEFORE
PUTTING IT IN YOUR MOUTH WAS
TERRIBLY RUDE. WHAT
NONSENSE! AND YET THERE IT
WAS: SOME PEOPLE AROUND
THE TABLE NODDING THEIR
AFFIRMATION, WHILE OTHERS
BLINKED, DEEP IN THOUGHT, YET
SAID NOTHING. I JUST CAME OUT
WITH IT AND CALLED IT WHAT IT
WAS: ONE PERSON’S
RIDICULOUS, IMAGINED REALITY
AND A GROUP’S UNWILLINGNESS
TO CHALLENGE IT.

16. Imagined realities are not lies, but
things that almost everyone believe in.

17. SUCH IMAGINED REALITIES, FROM
NATIONAL IDENTITY TO CURRENCY
(ALL MORE MONUMENTAL THAN
SALAD ETIQUETTE), EXERT GREAT
POWER IN OUR WORLD,
ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE
ACTED UPON, VOCALIZED,
ENUNCIATED AND CAPTURED
INTO LAWS AND OUR WAYS OF
LIFE. AND THERE IT IS: WE MAKE
OUR OWN NORMAL. IT WAS ONCE
AN IMAGINED REALITY THAT
DEVIATION FROM
HETEROSEXUALITY OR CISGENDER
WAS WRONG OR BAD. THIS
REALITY IS CHANGING FOR THE
BETTER BY VIRTUE OF THE HUMAN
IMAGINATION AND THE TRIUMPH
OF OPEN MINDEDNESS AND
ACCEPTANCE.

18. All of this is to say that brands have a
choice. Companies have a choice. People –
you and me – have choices. We can make
the freedom to live and be yourself our
choice as long as it does not hurt anyone.
Silent choice, by contrast, is cowardice.
And cowardice comes from a fear inflicted
by those who have transient power.

19. SO, TO THE QUESTION: WHAT
PLACE DO LGBTQ PEOPLE,
RIGHTS, AND CONCERNS HAVE IN
THE WORKPLACE? IF YOU HOLD
SUCH A CONVERSATION AS IT
RELATES TO YOUR BRAND,
BUSINESS, AND VERY LIFE, THEN
YOU MAY FIND IT IS TIME TO
RECAST AND RETHINK YOUR
WAY OF WORKING. TO GET TO A
PLACE OF TRUE EQUALITY WILL
UNFORTUNATELY TAKE TIME,
BUT IT STARTS WITH ALLOWING
THE CONVERSATION TO HAPPEN.
IT IS NOT A SEPARATE CLUB OR
A RAINBOW CASING. ONLY DEEP
ROOTS IN HUMAN DECENCY WILL
FOSTER THIS NECESSARY
RESPECT, RATHER THAN THE
PROLIFERATION OF LIP SERVICE
OR SEPARATION.

20. Don’t be a gatherer of tinsel! Focus on a
culture of real (not manufactured) care
and respect if inclusion is your goal.

21. SEXUALITY, GENDER AND THE
LIKE ARE IMPORTANT AND
DIVERSE FLAVORS OF THE HUMAN
EXPERIENCE, BUT THEY HAVING
NOTHING TO DO WITH ONE’S
ABILITY AND SHOULD NEVER BE
FACTORED INTO JUDGMENT ON
JOB QUALIFICATIONS.
EQUALITY IS A DIFFICULT THING
TO PRACTICE. WE TOO OFTEN
DEMONSTRATE AN EXALTED
OPINION OF OURSELVES. TOO
MANY WRESTLE WITH THIS,
BORNE FROM THE CRUELTY OF
OTHERS FOISTED UPON THEM. IT
MAY TAKE LONGER FOR THEM.

22. Patience is the balm and time, the healer.

23. LEADERS MUST SET AN EXAMPLE
THAT ALLOW FOR THIS HEALING
TO OCCUR BY INFUSING WORK
CULTURE WITH HUMAN THEMES,
LIKE COMPASSION AND
EMPATHY. BUT THEY WILL HAVE
TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE AND
UNDERSTAND THESE THEMES ON
THEIR OWN TERMS FIRST
INSTEAD OF BENDING TO
SUPERFICIAL WHIMS.

24. THE POWER OF FAIR SPEECH (NOT
FREE AND THOUGHTLESS) AND
BALANCED OPINION IS MORE
CRUCIAL NOW THAN EVER. IT IS
IMPORTANT TO USE OUR
IMAGINATIONS BETTER TO CREATE
A NEW AND MORE CERTAIN
REALITY – THAT HUMANS AND
KINDNESS SHOULD ALWAYS GO
TOGETHER. FOR, IN THE END, IS
THIS NOT WHAT HUMANKIND
MEANS?

25. WITH EXPERIENCE SPANNING 30
YEARS, 40 COUNTRIES, AND 50
BRANDS, ALEXEI ORLOV HAS
MADE LIFE HIS BUSINESS AND
BUSINESS HIS LIFE AS A
SEASONED LEADER IN GLOBAL
MARKETING. HE IS CURRENTLY
THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF MTM
CHOICE, WHICH IS A FAMILY OF
SPECIALIST AGENCIES.
VISIT ALEXEIORLOV.COM FOR
MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THE
LIFE OF BUSINESS AND THE
BUSINESS OF LIVE.