"Dare to risk public criticism."
This comment by Mary Kay is more important than ever to me in our current business climate. I've never seen so many companies afraid to stand for something other than what certain elements of the population want them to.
We must regain the idea that we stand for something; not everything. If we stand for something, we will be criticized by someone - it comes with the territory.
Being overly concerned about public criticism does nothing but make us mediocre. Obviously those that aren't criticizing us are the market we serve. Now I'm not 
talking about customer service or its lack of it when I'm talking about criticism, rather it's standing for something that others will attack you for.
The first thing is we must dare this again. Not for the the sole purpose of stirring up the pot (although that isn't a bad marketing strategy), but more because it means we know who we are and what we represent.
Other than answering those that attack us with lies, we must learn to take the opposition with not too much concern and stay focused on what we're trying to accomplish.
Mary Kay received her share of criticism for how she ran her company, it didn't make her stop what she was doing. She knew what it was she wanted to accomplish and why ... that was the thing that drove her in spite of the voices raised against her.
Many times the voices raised against us are attempts to get us off our purpose so outsiders can control us from without by raising their voices so loud it gets our eyes off what we're here for. That's what's happening with Wal-Mart's enemies at this time.
If we're afraid of being publicly criticised, we may as well not be in business, it's going to happen. The key is not letting that public criticism move us off of our purpose and get us entangled in the debate to the hurt of the company.
Like I said, when there are lies put forth that can damage the reputation of a company, we are obligated to set the story staight, or it could damage our reputation. That's different than endlessly interacting with people and businesses sniping at us to distract us.
In the end, we need to be willing to dare to take the risk. Playing it safe in this area will never bring us the success we're striving for.
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