Maxim Behar: The PR business is for brave people
29.06.2020
The PR expert Maxim Behar visited Bogdana and Simeon on BG Radio to answer five questions that the radio hosts had prepared for him.
- When will you regret it more? If you have a pair of sneakers in your wardrobe that you have never worn or if you have a tailcoat that you have never worn?
- Definitely the sneakers. Because if I put on my sneakers, it means that I will feel more comfortable and I will be very happy, plus I will have free time. The tailcoat – I can make with or without it. This is the slightest concern. Of course, I go to all sorts of places, I meet prime ministers, kings, queens, princesses and princes. But I can go there without a tailcoat. They may look at me slightly at an angle, but if I go to the park in a tailcoat, then I think people will say that I'm not good at sports at all. Sneakers are a very valuable for me.
- What do you prefer – to be immortal or fearless?
- Of course to be fearless. Because firstly you cannot be immortal and secondly - it is very important to be brave. My business is the business for brave people. In 2010 or 2011 I had a presentation in Davos and it was called: "The PR expert never gives up!". It's more kind of metaphor to show that we have to be super creativeand when you can't solve a case, you just have to be fearless. You don't have to worry about anything in this life. Not to mention that if you are fearless enough you will be immortal.
- To whom would you give your daughter for a wife? To the poet Theo or to the millionaire Miro?
- This is her decision. This is a question that for the first time I can't answer, because it's my daughter's decision, of course. She will decide.
- But what if she says: „I like them both. You decide“?
- I will tell her: "My dear Ralitsa, you decide." I will not live with the millionaire or the poet, but my daughter. So she will decide. I was brought up like that, so you are, I am sure of that. Not to mention that BG Radio, my favorite radio, has such a listener profile that I don't believe it stumbles on "Poetry or Money". These are, after all, human relationships. How is it possible, I can't imagine a person being happy just because someone has money or because someone can write well. Happiness is such a complex matter. The most important thing is for my daughter Ralitsa to be happy.
- When was the last time you thought of the logic that everything passes?
- Not everything passes. There are things that remain. These are the memories, these are the wonderful experiences. If you mean that everything bad, that happens passes - no, it leaves a mark on you. In this sense, it is not past. Because you can forgot it at the moment, but sometimes after a while you remember. As we remembered how 15-16 years ago I was here with you and we had the same conversation. You remembered things we talked about then. I really don't know what exactly you put into these words, but not everything passes. It is very important to look at them positively or what remains to be positive. Something very bad may have happened, but there were 1% good memories.Let's remember this 1%. There really are a lot of pessimistic people. If there was even 1% bad in something, they will always remember that 1%. There is a very nice joke in which Moshe goes to visit Garabed and then goes home. Garabed calls him and says: "Moshe, there is a missing spoon, did you take it by accident? A golden spoon. ”He replied,“ No, how am I going to take it? ”He hangs up, time passes, Moshe calls Garabed to ask if they have found the spoon. Garabed replies, "What can I tell you, we found her, but the bad feeling remains." So, not everything passes. I will tell you a story, because in Bulgaria I can tell it. I had a certain PR vision for my book and my editor from Nebraska called me and said, "Mr. Behar, NO WAY! We cannot publish it. There are Jews and Armenians involved. Is this possible in Bulgaria? ”And I answered her:“ Yes, we are tolerant on this topic, we live together. ”She did not agree because she thought they would be offended. Here in the book, I tell this story between Jim and John. Jim calls John and back. This is because, especially in America, there is a great deal of caution not to offend anyone, to be politically correct. Here, you see, not everything passes, the bad feeling remains.
- What is your superpower?
- There is no superpower, there is energy, desire and a positive attitude towards everything. Of course, not all of us can deal with some problems, or when sometimes someone is rude to you - then you can't smile like a fool from morning to night and not react. On the contrary - I react to any manifestation of unprofessionalism, if someone is not precise. You know, in Bulgaria we lack three things - BGN 1,000 to the salary, one room in an apartment and one day to do our job. There are several characteristics in Bulgaria that I have registered over the years. One of them is that we all talk to TVs. I have not seen this anywhere else in the world. The other feature is the so-called. "90% complex". We do 90% of our job. It often happens to me that people come to me and say, "I am ready" and I say, "No, you are not. A job is done when it is 100%. When it's all done.”In fact, that's what I think is the superpower.
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