I consider myself a political glutton, the type of person that will spend his evenings trolling though YouTube videos and articles on the most mind-numbing geo political issues around.
It is my passion to learn about these things and in today’s climate of Brexit, austerity, Donald Trump and WikiLeaks, everyone has their own political views and that is truly a great thing.
But we all have to remember that people should be judged by the content of their character and not their political views with certain exceptions that must be made in a civilized society.
Just because someone has voted for the Conservative party it does not mean that they are the devil who hates poor people.
Not everyone that voted for Brexit is a racist.
I know and take the view that people vote the way they do because they truly believe they are doing the right thing.
More and more people have such passionate political views and this is showing when they are conducting their business.
In such uncertain times politics has become small talk, I’m as guilty as anyone, asking people how they voted in the referendum, but I do this to try and learn and see other people’s opinions, I voted to remain in the EU, but I don’t really have a problem with people who voted to leave, because everyone has their reasons whether I agree with them or not.
But unfortunately, I’m starting to notice that a lot of people don’t share my view.
There is a great ‘us and them’ mentality simmering around at the moment and I feel this is projected on to people when talking about business.
A few times now I have been speaking to people I meet and then the subject of Brexit comes up.
The usual dance begins, how did you vote, how do you think it will affect the economy and so on?
Most of these conversations end with either agreement or an amicable agreement to disagree.
I am ok with this, but I have witnessed arguments and once a near fist fight with people talking about their political views at networking events.
People need to take a step back no matter how strong your views are, not everyone will share them and you have to be a grown up about this, there is no point in trying to convert people to your political views when you are meeting people at networking events or in meetings.
Recently, I was talking to a gentleman from America and he said to me that just because he is an American, he does not want to talk to people about Donald Trump and his policies.
He wants to talk about business and leave politics out of the conversation.
This sums up my views quite nicely, there is a time and a place for everything.
Always remember your political views are your own and that they should not affect your business life.
Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean they’re a bad person and you should not try and do business with them. Always judge people on the content of their character and not on their political views.
By Andrew Kibbler
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