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How I caused three church groups to unsubscribe from a business magazine

My first ever feature article in a mainstream business magazine caused a bit of a stir. Well it certainly upset the church groups anyway!

In 2003 I got thrown to the lions by three church groups. What did I do that was so unforgivable that even the Christians couldn’t turn the other cheek? Well, I wrote an article called, ‘Sleeping Your Way to The Top’ (sound familiar?) which was published in Australian Anthill Business

Magazine - which the church groups in question promptly unsubscribed from.

I had rather cheekily likened business networking to dating and relationships. Hardly pornographic, but then I guess it’s all in the mind of the receiver…

The article was a fun, light-hearted appraisal of how to get the most out of business relationships and the only mention of sex that was actually made was in the title of the article. Ok…there were a few pictures of condoms strategically placed by the designer, but in fact the magazine had already toned down my original version so as not to upset anyone! Which just goes to show there’s not much point in dumbing things down: you may as well be bold and go out with a bang (as it were) if at all.

Now, while I don’t advocate you actually have sex with key decision makers to further your career (I’ll leave that up to you…I mean, what if they’re hot for God’s sake?) I am a very vocal advocate of business professionals expressing their personal opinions in such a way as to challenge the status quo and provoke impassioned debate.

In this case, religious groups expressed their opinion by boycotting the magazine. What’s odd about this is that the article itself promoted building stronger relationships within the community through socially conscious business practice. Not so devilish, you might say.

I must admit to being secretly quite chuffed to have ruffled some feathers;

I’d rather get a polarised reaction than no reaction at all. It is precisely these intellectual scuffles and ideological skirmishes that stimulate reassessment, engage creative thought and give (immaculate) birth to innovation.

One thing’s for sure: when it comes to speaking your mind you’re often damned if you do but even more damned if you don’t. In this case I literally was damned – by the church itself. But goddamnit, it felt good!

I guess in the end all the controversy sparked raised enough awareness and discussion of the serious business issues at hand that what I did turned out to be so wrong it was right.

Controversy is a great tool to build exposure but always, always, remember to put it into context otherwise you could be facing a pr disaster.


Ben’s book “Sleeping Your Way to The Top in Business” is available for purchase by clicking here. For media, consulting and speaking enquiries contact Ben directly at ben@benangel.com.au

Posted by Ben Angel, conference speakers on 5th March, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks
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