Outward appearance

I had recently seen a picture of a friend of mine at a party pouring beer through a funnel into another friend's mouth. After talking to the person who had shown me this picture, I kept thinking about the message the two in the picture were sending. Both students are actively involved on campus in a variety of leadership positions within organizations. The funny part is, we had just had a conversation in one of our recent meetings about the image we as board members have on our community--trying to figure out what our role is and how to best achieve our goals. Branding this organization with pictures of high-risk college drinking is not the image we should be sharing. As leaders within an organization, they are representing those organizations and their school with this picture of underage drinking, propelling the negative stereotypes that already exist for college students.

Seeing this one picture seriously impacted the way I now look at these two people. I wonder if they know that this picture was taken or that is is being sent out in text messages.  As a member of the PLA, I am very conscious of what is being said and shared about me. I google myself occasionally not because I like reading about myself, but because I want to see what everyone else can see and learn about me. Any leader, any self-respecting person should be conscious and aware of the messages they are sending with pictures, status updates, and other social media resources. And if they are not aware of what message they are sending by wearing a certain shirt, saying or posting something that could be interpreted as inappropriate, it is up to the leadership, to other community members and their friends to inform them about the message they are emitting.