A friend was recently relaying a campaign story that I thought was important.
The friend's boss was running for statewide office. He was a notoriously hard person to work with, and very abrasive. And the friend's job was to interrupt him during important meetings and be scolded for interrupting.
Why?
So that the candidate could look at the donor or important person and say, "Can't you see that I'm here with Mr. Jones, and we're talking about important things! I don't care that I'm late for my other appointments, I want to stay here and talk with Mr. Jones."
It made the candidate look like a leader, like someone who cared about the people he was meeting with.
But the staffer had to suffer through this repeated indignity. He has a thick skin so it wasn't an issue for him, but for other people it could have been difficult to deal with.
Your job though, is to always make your candidate or organization look good. Sometimes that means little acts of theater like this, but it always means working as a team, working through these situations, and playing your part.
Sometimes your job will mean your candidate wants you to interrupt them just so they can tell you no.
The friend's boss was running for statewide office. He was a notoriously hard person to work with, and very abrasive. And the friend's job was to interrupt him during important meetings and be scolded for interrupting.
Why?
So that the candidate could look at the donor or important person and say, "Can't you see that I'm here with Mr. Jones, and we're talking about important things! I don't care that I'm late for my other appointments, I want to stay here and talk with Mr. Jones."
It made the candidate look like a leader, like someone who cared about the people he was meeting with.
But the staffer had to suffer through this repeated indignity. He has a thick skin so it wasn't an issue for him, but for other people it could have been difficult to deal with.
Your job though, is to always make your candidate or organization look good. Sometimes that means little acts of theater like this, but it always means working as a team, working through these situations, and playing your part.
Sometimes your job will mean your candidate wants you to interrupt them just so they can tell you no.
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