I’ve only got a few (okay, two) LinkedIn recommendations, and one is from a previous boss of mine which is actually quite a glowing reference. However, in recent months I’ve lost a lot of respect for him professionally (we haven’t worked at the same company in several years, so it doesn’t affect me outside this) and I’m not terribly keen on the idea of having him recommend me. The reason that I’ve lost respect for him is unlikely to be known to most colleagues in the company where I work, or even among other people I’m likely to encounter.
Given that situation, should I follow my personal inclination and take down his recommendation, or leave it up in case it might be useful in the future? WWJD?
Well… that certainly did cross my mind. I just feel, I dunno, dishonest, somehow. But I appreciate that it might just be a silly, simplistic and self-defeating way of looking at it.
If this guy’s (assuming) personality was so well-known that having a recommendation from him could be seen as a kiss of death, I can see having it removed (kind of like how the Republicans did everything but cage Bush2 in the WH during the 2008 campaign.)
Otherwise, just because you think he’s an ass on some level that most people don’t get/aren’t aware… self-defeating.
Anyway, in business you have to determine whether or not somebody is useful, not whether they’re likable. There’s plenty of people I do business with that I probably won’t like on a personal level, but it’s irrelevant - I keep my manners about me because, someday, I might need that person again. Their opinion on gay marriage, Marxism, NAMBLA, whatever doesn’t matter. Their ability to get what I needed done in a timely and profitable manner? That’s what matters.
I have a recommendation on my linked in page from a former boss who I actually got fired for fiddling his commissions account. He was also a serial womanizer in and out of the office. He thinks I was awesome at my job and had high integrity, which is reflected in the endorsement. I see no reason to delete it. I’m sure he is still an awful person, but career-wise getting fired hardly slowed him down and is now very well placed in the industry and field. I am sure he is, as he was, very talented.
Naaah, he’s not (to Godwinize in one fell swoop) Hitler. I just disagree with his ethics when it comes to certain client interactions, but it’s not as though he’s defrauding anyone, or anything close to that.
If it was a question of doing business with someone, it would matter less, but I felt that having a recommendation from someone implied a closer relationship. Thanks for your input!
Hah. I’m sure those are positive virtues in some circles… but no, the things I’m considering aren’t even as bad as this. So yeah, I’ll leave it up and stop overthinking this. Thanks!
A few years later I was fired for not going along with a major fraud being perpetrated by the company senior execs (CEO, CFO, Controller, and on down). My boss was fired for backing me up. They were busted, the bigwigs got long prison sentences, and the flunkies, who did what we refused to do, got short sentences, even just probation. They did get lifetime bans from working in accounting for publicly listed companies. They ALL got lucrative jobs at some of the largest private companies (I mean revenues in the tens of billions) after completing their sentences.
For some employers, being willing to go to jail for your bosses is absolutely considered a virtue.