Posts Tagged ‘John Howard’
How often do you get to interview a former Prime Minister let alone Australia’s second longest serving one? I’m assuming not often.
I had started reading John Howard’s Book Lazarus Rising, and wondered what it would take to have a book signing event here at VIVO Cafe. So “my people asked his people” and my night with a PM began to take shape. Then came the offer: would I like to interview him? Well, yes. I think. I suppose I could. Probably. I said yes before I thought about it too much. How hard could it be to ask intelligent questions, keep an audience interested, keep him interested, look and sound as if it was actually an everyday occurrence and NOT make it political. Okay Angela, stay calm, you’ll be fine.
We walk a fine line sometimes in business when we make decisions about either being vocal regarding our beliefs or publicly supportive to others who represent our beliefs. Should our customers know which way we swing, or our team for that matter? Could it jeopardise sales? Are we scared that we will be judged?
I know that many large companies donate to both political parties to hedge their bets, while others are more open. Small business can’t always afford to be open about anything. My feelings are that my own political beliefs are no one else’s business but mine, even though my Greek culture, heritage and background say otherwise. However, I also believe that you should be active in this world. If you don’t like something then do something about it besides whine. After all, that’s how we build/built our businesses, by following through on our actions and dreams. Hence, I have a personal dilemma.