The fine Mayor of Hills Shire Michelle Byrne rocks. Lots to learn from her!
It was about 4-5 years ago where I used to host lots of the smaller business breakfast networking events. Some of my warmest business experiences come out in doing that as a startup entrepreneur and during this experience I remember being fortunate to host the Deputy Mayor (at the time) Michelle Byrne.
We stayed on contact following that, seen each other around town and bringing it up to present day – we finally caught up for a long overdue lunch.
Besides me being a character in the public spotlight a bit today, Michelle and I have always clicked. Why? Because she is awesome.
She is the fine Mayor today of the Hills Shire Council (in Sydney) and a woman of well known public office.
It was great spending time and understanding how a very well respected politician around town operates and the type of issues they deal with. One question I have never asked a successful politician before is:
– “Why do you do it?”
I mean totally seriously. It’s hard work, you deal with complaints all the time, it doesn’t pay anywhere near as well to its Corporate equivalents and even more – it’s lot of hours and many don’t appreciate you.
As I enjoyed my fine Fish at the Novotel, Michelle enjoyed her fine Pasta and confidently answered:
– “It’s a great buzz and I love helping the public. The successes make it all worth it”
Afterwards and reflecting on it later on, I took time to digest that statement and really understand her thinking. Obviously Michelle is highly intelligent and well educated – however the subtle aspect to her brilliance is her focus on helping people. That is, she isn’t in the job for the ‘recognition’ or anything like that, but she is driven to help people and deliver outcomes.
Are all politicians like that? Of course not. BUT Michelle is and even though I have always liked / respected her, that has totally gone up even more today.
My advice and lessons from this one? Enjoy success, recognition and all that – but make sure your heart is in the right place. I totally love money and it’s awesome (I am a Persian Christian Guy after all), but helping people comes first. This creates the passion, the flow, the energy which paves the way to success.
It has me extra focused on what I am doing now and love it. You gotta love the Liberal Party and full inspirational credit to Michelle.
Love your work, thanks for the read and stay awesome friends!
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